PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:                24 February 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:       AR199902915

	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. Hubert S. Shaw, Jr.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Celia  L. Adolphi		Chairperson	
	Mr. James P. Huber		Member	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson		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, as the widow of a deceased former service member (FSM), that her late husband be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that the FSM is entitled to the Purple Heart.  In support of her application, she submitted a copy of a 7 November 1943 letter from the FSM to her, a copy of the FSM’s separation medical examination, a copy of a 7th Station Hospital Clinical Record Brief, a copy of one page of the FSM’s induction physical examination, a copy of three Medical Department Forms 52, and a Supplemental Record which is also a medical record.

4.  The FSM’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show he was inducted on 14 October 1941.  He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 8 November 1942 to August 1945 and was honorably discharged on 8 August 1945.  

5.  The FSM’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation), which is authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award and does show the entry “NONE” in item 34 (Wounds Received in Action).

6.  The FSM’s service medical records show that he accidentally sustained a severe sprain of the right ankle on 3 April 1943 when he “tripped & fell running to fox hole 0800 [8:00 am] R [East] of Maknassy, 3 April 1943.”  

7.  A Medical Form 52b, dated 4 June 1943, shows that the applicant was treated for “TRICHOPHYTOSIS” [ a fungus which attacks skin, nails and hair]. 

8.  A Medical Department Form 52b, dated 29 October 1943, shows that the FSM was treated for “sinusitis” of the right frontal portion of the head.

9.  The 7 November 1943 letter from the FSM to the applicant contains a paragraph in which he stated:  “I’ll never forget…last year this time.  Boy you can’t imagine how close I came to meeting my maker…We were attacking some French machine guns.  I was trying to sight the gun on one of them and a bullet hit the barrel right in front of my face, it looked like somebody had stuck pins in my face all over.  I had to go to the medics two days later to have the lead picked out of my eye lids and face.  I know they had drilled me right between the eyes.”

10.  Review of the FSM’s WD AGO 53-55 reveals that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge on 24 May 1944.  A DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 20 July 1984, shows that the FSM was issued the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge and the American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal.  However, there is no indication that his discharge has ever been corrected to show these awards. 
11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, 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.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service in military operations against an armed enemy.  The Bronze Star Medal is authorized for each individual who was cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945 or whose achievement or service, during that period, was confirmed by documents executed prior to 1 July 1947.  An award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge is considered to be a citation in orders.  This means, in effect, that the Bronze Star Medal is to be awarded to individuals who were authorized either badge for service during World War II.

13.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the American Campaign Medal.  This campaign medal is awarded for qualifying service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946.  Qualifying service includes permanent assignment outside the continental United States, duty as a crewmember aboard a vessel sailing ocean waters for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, or duty outside the continental United States as a passenger or in a temporary duty status for 30 consecutive or 60 nonconsecutive days, or active combat against the enemy and was awarded a combat decoration or furnished a certificate by a corps commander or higher, or service within the continental United States for an aggregate period of one year.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There are no orders which show that the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart. There also is no evidence that he was wounded as a result of hostile action.  The FSM authenticated his discharge attesting to the facts that he was not wounded and was not authorized award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The Board reviewed the copies of the medical records provided by the applicant and noted that the original copies of these documents were also contained in the FSM’s service medical records.  None of the available medical records indicated that the FSM was wounded as a result of hostile action or corroborated the excerpt from his letter regarding wounds to the face.

3.  Based on the foregoing, the Board has determined that the FSM was not wounded in action during World War II; therefore, there is no basis for award of the Purple Heart to the FSM.

4.  Based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to the FSM during World War II, he is entitled to award of the Bronze Star Medal and correction of his records to show the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  Based on the FSM’s service during World War II, he was awarded the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal; therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show these awards. 

6.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the FSM’s records, but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the FSM was awarded the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

CLA____  JPH____  MVT_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Celia L. Adolphi______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999029915	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000224	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19450808	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365	
DISCHARGE REASON	DEMOBILIZATION	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	MR SCNEIDER	
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.