PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           4 November 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999018693

	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. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Elizabeth Buchanon		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Mr. Hubert O. Fry, Jr.		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)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests, in effect, that his DD Form 214 be corrected to show he was wounded in action, that he received a direct order to return to duty after he was wounded and that he received a medical discharge.

3.  The applicant states that his records do not state he was given a direct order to return to duty before he was given medical treatment.  He needs a copy of that order because he obeyed it.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from documents provided by the applicant.

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 20 March 1951.  He served in Korea where he earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He separated on           5 January 1953 after completing his normal term of service.  His DD Form 214, item 29 (wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces) showed “none” and item 27 did not list the Purple Heart.

6.  The VA awarded the applicant compensation for incurring a penetrating shell fragment wound of the lower back in September 1951.  It noted that his discharge examination reported he was found to have a well-healed, nonsymptomatic scar on the left flank.  Out-patient treatment of the veteran during May and June 1953 had noted a well-healed scar, measuring ½ by ½ inches, without loss of muscle tissue with normal motion of the spine.

7.  On 29 September 1975, the applicant’s DD Form 214 was corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart.

8.  Army Regulation 635-40 governs the evaluation of physical fitness of soldiers who may be unfit to perform their military duties because of physical disability.  The regulation defines “physically unfit” as unfitness due to physical disability.  The unfitness is of such a degree that a soldier is unable to perform the duties of his office, grade, rank or rating in such a way as to reasonably fulfill the purpose of his employment on active duty. 

9.  Title 38, United States Code, sections 310 and 331, permits the VA to award compensation for a medical condition which was incurred in or aggravated by active military service.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  At the time the applicant’s DD Form 214 was corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart, item 29 should also have been corrected to show his wounds received in action.

2.  There is no section on the DD Form 214 to show “direct orders received.”  The “direct order” the applicant states he received to return to duty was likely a verbal order.  Verbal orders would not be noted in his personnel records even if they were available.

3.  There is no evidence of record to show the applicant was not fit for duty at the time of his separation and so he would not have been eligible for a medical discharge.  Evidence in VA files show he received treatment just months after his separation that noted a well-healed scar, measuring ½ by ½ inches, without loss of muscle tissue with normal motion of the spine, indicating he was fit for duty.

4.  In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by adding “penetrating shell fragment wound of the lower back, September 1951,” to item 29 of the applicant’s DD Form 214.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

__eb____  __aao___  __hof___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Elizabeth Buchanon
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999018693	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19991104	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	108.00	
2.	100.00	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.