PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:  10 August 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR1999030228

	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. Stephanie Thompkins		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Mark D. Manning		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karen A. Heinz		Member	
	Mr. John Saputo		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 his date of birth on his separation document (DD Form 214) should be 5 April 1931, his service time should be 7 years, 7 months and 18  days and his awards should include the Eisenhower Medal, Occupation Medal -Japan-Korean Conflict-Fortigear (sic), Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He also requests his DD Form 214 show his foreign service. He submits a copy of his DD Form 214 in support of his request.

3.  The applicant states in effect, his separation document contains errors.

4.  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 and Surgeon General Office (SGO) files which show the applicant, while serving in Korea, was wounded in the lower leg on 4 February 1951 by a penetrating missile as a direct result of action against the enemy.

5.  The SGO files also show he served as an infantryman on his initial enlistment. These files also show that the applicant served in Korea during the Korean Conflict and entitling him to the Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal.

6.  He was released from active duty on 28 August 1951 in the grade of private 
(E-2).  A DD Form 214 is not available for this service.

7.  He reenlisted in the Army for 3 years on 8 May 1953 and was honorably separated on 7 May 1956.  His military occupational specialty was Publication Information Specialist.

8.  His DD Form 214 issued for this period of service shows he was credited with 7 years, 7 months and 18 days of total net service.  His awards include the National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal.  He was not credited any foreign service for this latter period.

9.  His records do not show award of the Eisenhower Medal, Occupation
Medal - Japan-Korean Conflict-Fortigear and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

10.  His DD Form 214 shows his date of birth as 5 May 1931 and all other available records have the same date.

11.  The DD Form 214 covering his Korea service is not available.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy and procedures concerning awards.  It provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or as a result of 

hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was a 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.

13.  Paragraph 8-6 of this regulation provides for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  That paragraph states that there are basically three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, he must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and he must actively participate in such ground combat.  Specific requirements state, in effect, that an Army enlisted soldier must have an infantry or special forces specialty, and satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or attached as a member of an infantry, ranger or special forces unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in active ground combat. 

14.  The regulation also provides for award of the Korean Service Medal.  In pertinent part, the regulation states that the Korean Service Medal is awarded for qualifying service in the theater of operations between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954.

15.  The regulation also provides for award of the United Nations Service Medal. In pertinent part, the regulation states that the period of eligibility for the United Nations Service Medal was between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954.  The regulation provides that this service medal was awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States dispatched to Korea or adjacent areas on behalf of the United Nations.  Award of the Korean Service Medal automatically establishes eligibility for award of the United Nations Service Medal.

16.  The regulation does not list or have provisions for award of an Eisenhower Medal.  The regulation also does not show the Occupation Medal – Japan-Korean Conflict-Fortigear.  The only Fourragere awards listed are the French and Belgian Fourragere, which were awarded only during World War II.

17.  A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape.  In 1988 the National Research Council made these tape files available to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  The availability of the information to the NPRC received considerable publicity by the various veterans service organizations.  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s discharge document should be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart for a wound received in action on 4 February 1951.

2.  The applicant is also entitled to the Combat Infantryman Badge for his service in combat, and the Korean Service Medal and United Nations Service Medal for his period of service in Korea.

3.  The Board has noted his contentions that his date of birth and his period of foreign service are not correct on his separation document; however, they are not sufficiently supported by his available records or his application.  The DD Form 214 issued for his period of service for 8 May 1953 through 7 May 1956, shows his total net service to be 7 years, 7 months and 18 days.  His foreign service for this period was zero and his records show he served in Korea in his prior period of service.  

4.  His request that the Eisenhower Medal and the Occupation Medal -Japan-Korean Conflict-Fortigear be shown on his DD Form 214 are not sufficiently supported by pertinent regulations. 

5.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate 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 showing the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for a wound received in action on 4 February 1951, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal and the United Nations Service Medal.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__mm___  __kh___  __js____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__Mark D. Manning___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999030228	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000810	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	100.02	
2.	107.00	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.