PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:         

	BOARD DATE:             29 June 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999031473

	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	
	Mr. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. JoAnn H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. John N. Slone		Member	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		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 that her late father, the former service member (FSM), be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that the FSM’s discharge indicates “gassed in action October 2, 1918”.  It does not indicate receipt of the Purple Heart presented in the late 1950’s, understandably so.

4.  In support of her request, the applicant has provided copies of the FSM’s Honorable Discharge Certificate, Enlistment Record and a DVA Application for Government Headstone or Marker for the FSM.

5.  The FSM’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information herein was derived from documents provided by the applicant.

6.  The FSM entered active duty on 25 May 1918 and served with the Allied Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in Meuse and St. Mihiel, France from 6 July 1918 to  15 April 1919.  He was honorably discharged on 29 April 1919 in the grade of private.  He passed away on 17 July 1968.

7.  The Enlistment Record does not show that the FSM received any awards during his service.  It does show, however, that he participated in two campaigns with the AEF, and under the heading “wounds received in service”, contains the entry “slightly gassed in action, Oct 2, 1918”.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, military Awards, provides that the Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the US Armed Services after 5 April 1917, has been wounded or killed, or who has died or may thereafter die after being wounded.

9.  The same regulation defines a wound as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent.  A physical lesion is not required, however, the wound for which the award is made must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been a matter of official record.  When contemplating an award of this decoration, the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence in the official record shows that the FSM was gassed during his service in France on 2 October 1918.  However, there are no medical records available to further substantiate the “gassing” injury statement in his Enlistment Record.  Nonetheless, it is assumed that the injury was combat related which would entitle the FSM to the Purple Heart.

2.  Although the applicant implies that the FSM may have been presented the Purple Heart sometime in the 1950’s, there is no documentation provided to support this statement.  It would still be appropriate, however, to make the award a matter of official records by correction the record to show the FSM’s entitlement to the Purple Heat.  Additionally, the family apparently needs official documentation of the award of the Purple Heart for purposes of having same inscribed on his DVA Headstone.

3.  In view of the foregoing, the FSM’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:

	a.  showing that the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in France on 2 October 1918; and

	b.  issuing the Purple Heart Medal and an appropriately inscribed certificate to the applicant on behalf of the FSM’s.

BOARD VOTE:  

__jhl____  ___jns___  __mhm__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________JoAnn H. Langston_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999031473	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000629	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.