RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           22 JANUARY 2004                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2003090826

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Joann H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Mr. Ronald J. Weaver		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion, if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:  

1.  The applicant requests award of three Purple Hearts.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he sustained a bayonet cut to the rear of his right leg behind the knee in August 1950.  He states that he was also wounded in September 1950 when he exchanged fire with a North Korean Soldier he met on the street in Haman, Korea.  He notes he hit the North Korean Soldier in the chest and that he was hit in the left ankle.  The applicant states that he was treated by “the aid man” in both instances.

3.  The applicant also states that he was injured when the truck he was riding “in overturned into a river bed” in September 1950.  He submits a statement from an individual who witnessed the truck accident.

4.  The applicant states that he is now receiving a 60 percent disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs and did not think much about his awards until his grandson asked him.

5.  The applicant provides a statement from the individual who witnessed the truck accident.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an error which occurred on 
30 November 1967.  The application submitted in this case is dated 1 May 2003. 

2.  Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse failure to file within the 3-year statute of limitation if the ABCMR determines that it would be in the interest of justice to do so.  In this case, the ABCMR will conduct a review of the merits of the case to determine if it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate that the applicant served an initial period of active duty between April 1946 and April 1947.  He returned to active duty in October 1948 and served continuously through a series of reenlistments until 30 November 1967 when he retired for length of service with more than 21 years of active Federal service.

4.  The applicant served in Korea, as an infantryman, between August 1950 and February 1952.  While in Korea he was awarded, among other decorations, the Combat Infantryman Badge and a Bronze Star Medal for valor.

5.  The applicant’s Bronze Star Medal was awarded for his heroic actions on 
31 August 1950.  His award citation indicates that while his unit was under attack, the applicant “crawled forward 100 years to the aid of a wounded man.”  The citation does not indicate the applicant was wounded during the incident.

6.  There were no medical records available to the Board, or provided by the applicant.  However, information contained in files maintained by the Office of The Surgeon General, commonly referred to as the SGO files, indicates that the applicant was hospitalized in November 1950 for a “malunion of fracture.”  The injury was recorded as a “non-battle” injury.  He received treatment in April 1951 for the same condition.

7.  The applicant’s Department of the Army Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) reflects other awards and decorations which the applicant received during his more than 21 years of active Federal service.  The form does not, however, indicate that the applicant was ever awarded a Purple Heart and item 40 (wounds) on the form is blank.  The applicant authenticated the information contained on the form in 1965 and again in 1966.

8.  The statement submitted in support of the applicant’s petition was authored in 1967.  It recounts a vehicle accident which occurred in September 1950 in which the applicant was injured.  The statement indicates that the truck the applicant was riding in overturned when the driver attempted to pass another vehicle on a narrow road and the truck “went off the right-hand side of the road into a dry stream bed….”  The statement does not indicate that any enemy action was involved or that the vehicle accident was the result of hostile action.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  Specifically prohibited from an award of the Purple Heart are injuries sustained as a result of vehicular accidents not related to or caused by enemy action.

10.  As a matter of information, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, the Government of the Republic of Korea issued the Korean War 

Service Medal to pay tribute to eligible Korean War veterans for their historic endeavors to preserve the freedom of the Republic of Korea and the free world.  On 20 August 1999, the Department of Defense approved acceptance and wear of this foreign award to eligible United States veterans of the Korean War, or their surviving next of kin.  The medal is provided at no cost to the veterans.  The Department of Defense has assigned responsibility to the Department of the Air Force for distribution of the Korean War Service Medal to eligible veterans or their surviving next of kin.  

11.  To apply, veterans must provide a copy of their discharge paper (Department of Defense Form 214) to the Awards and Decorations Section, Headquarters, Air Force Personnel Center, 550 C Street West, Suite 12, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas 78150-4714.  A sample request form is being provided to the applicant.  Once the Korean War Service Medal has been authorized by the Department of the Air Force, the applicant may apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to add this foreign award to his separation document.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence, and the applicant has not provided any, which confirms he was wounded as a result of hostile actions while in Korea.  In the absence of such evidence, there is no basis for an award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The fact that the applicant may have been injured in a vehicle accident during the Korean War is not, in and of itself, a basis for an award of the Purple Heart.  While the 1967 statement confirms that the applicant may have been injured during a vehicle accident, it does not indicate that enemy action was involved.

3.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy that requirement.  

4.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the error or injustice now under consideration on 30 November 1967; therefore, the time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 29 November 1970.  However, the applicant did not file within the 3-year statute of limitations and has not provided a compelling explanation or evidence to show that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse failure to file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__JHL  __  __AAO__  __RJW __  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented and the merits of this case are insufficient to warrant the relief requested, and therefore, it would not be in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file this application within the 3-year statute of limitations prescribed by law.  

		____ See Attached________  
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2003090826	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20040122	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.