MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           27 June 2000                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999029564

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

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Robert J. McGowan		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Mark D. Manning 		Chairperson	
	Mr. Walter T. Morrison 		Member	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway 		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That he be awarded the Purple Heart (PH).

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was on Biak Island in the Southwest Pacific when he was injured during a Japanese air raid.  He states that he was hospitalized for the injury and adds that he was recommended for the PH by a Major Von Schlichten, but never received the award.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from alternate sources.

The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 11 February 1943.  Upon completion of all required military training, he was transferred to the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) where he served as a baker in the 11th Airborne Division.  He arrived in the PTO on 28 May 1944 and departed the theater on 13 December 1945 for return to the United States.

The applicant was separated from the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey on 15 February 1946 where he received an honorable discharge.  His WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation – Honorable Discharge, lists his decorations as the Good Conduct Medal, American Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Philippines Liberation Ribbon.  The form, which the applicant authenticated with his thumbprint and signature, shows that he did not receive any wounds in action and does not show that he was ever awarded the PH.

During his out-processing from the Army, the applicant, on 14 January 1946, requested award of the PH by completing WD AGO Form 106, Request for Decoration and/or Citation, and sending it to the Adjutant General, Washington, DC for processing.  On this form, he claimed that he had been hospitalized at the 54th Evacuation Hospital due to having dislocated his “right, medial, semi-lunar cartilage” (sic) during an air raid on Biak, Southwest Pacific in April 1945.  An Adjutant General Division officer at Fort Dix certified the form.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards.  It states, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound 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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

The US Army Surgeon General’s Office (SGO) Hospitalization File was checked in an effort to help substantiate the applicant’s claim.  It revealed that the applicant’s only hospitalization occurred in February 1944 at Camp Polk, Louisiana, when he was admitted for dental caries and “dental disease, other.”
DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

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

2.  The applicant does not have a recommendation for the PH; he has a self-authored request to the Adjutant General seeking to verify his entitlement to the award.  There is no record that the Adjutant General was able to verify his entitlement.

3.  The SGO Hospitalization File does not support the applicant’s contention that he was hospitalized on Biak Island in 1945.  His only recorded hospitalization was for dental cavities at Camp Polk in February 1944.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_mdm___  __wtm___  __clg____  DENY APPLICATION

		    Carl W. S. Chun
		    Director, Army Board for Correction
    of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999029564	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20000627	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	DIRECTOR	
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.