MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:            10 May 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999031314

	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. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Mr. George D. Paxson		Member	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern		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 the Purple Heart be added to his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation.

APPLICANT STATES:  That the Purple Heart was omitted from his record.  He was wounded in the right shoulder by shrapnel around Christmas 1944.

In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, his Separation Qualification Record and a copy of a DVA Compensation and Pension Exam Report, dated 29 April 1999, in which it is stated that he was wounded by shrapnel in the right shoulder during World War II.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein is derived from documents submitted by the applicant.

He was inducted on 28 June 1941 and served from 7 January 1944 to               12 October 1945 in the European Theater of Operation.  He was honorably discharged at demobilization on 21 October 1945 in the grade of technical sergeant.

Awards reflected on his WD AGO Form 53-55 include the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the Good Conduct Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), the Honorable Service Lapel Button and the Expert Badge with Carbine Bar.

The DVA Compensation and Pension Exam Report, provided by the applicant, includes in the narrative, a statement made by the applicant to the examiner that “He also reports there was an aerial burst that the shrapnel hit his right shoulder and also affected his hearing”.

Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

Subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the 
Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious 

achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

The awards regulation further provides that the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany) was awarded for service for 30 consecutive days at a normal post of duty while assigned to the Army of Occupation of Germany (exclusive of Berlin) between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955.  Service between 9 May and 8 November 1945 would be counted only if the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was awarded for service prior to 9 May 1945.

The American Campaign Medal is awarded for service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946; and, the World War II Victory Medal for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.

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.  The applicant’s available records contain no evidence and he has provided no creditable evidence showing that he was wounded as a result of enemy action during World War II.  While the DVA may determine that his injuries were service connected, the DVA’s findings do not necessarily establish that the injuries were the result of hostile action, which is a necessary prerequisite for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  Despite the determination regarding the Purple Heart, there are other awards to which the applicant is entitled as a result of his World War II service.  The first of these is the BSM, based on the fact that he was awarded the CIB, and the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany), based of his period of active duty service and the time of his assignment in the European Theater of Operations.  The foregoing should be added to his available records to make them as correct as possible under the circumstances.

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

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

NOTE:  The ARBA, Support Division, St. Louis will be requested to prepare a correction to the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 showing that he was awarded 

the BSM (based on his having been awarded the CIB), the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal (Germany).

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___mkp  _  ___gdp__  ____tbr _  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999031314	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000510	
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.