MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           1 June 2000                
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999031667

	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:

	Mr. James C. Hise		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		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:  In effect, that his military records be corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War (POW) Medal.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he received shrapnel wounds to his left shoulder and upper arm but his discharge does not reflect the Purple Heart nor his POW status.

In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation; a copy of his WD AGO Form 100, Separation Qualification Record and an August 1997 DVA Rating Decision which granted him service connected disability for shrapnel fragment wound scars to the shoulder and upper arm.

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

His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 4 March 1943 and served as a heavy machine gunner in the European Theater of Operations.  He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Honorable Service Lapel Button, the Marksmanship Badge with Rifle Bar, the Expert Infantryman Badge and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).  The record contains no evidence that he was wounded in action, awarded the Purple Heart or that he was a POW.  He was honorably discharged on                6 December 1945 in the grade of corporal.

His WD AGO Form 100 states that he was taken as a POW and liberated by US forces (no dates indicated).

On 13 August 1997 the DVA awarded him service connection for shrapnel fragment wound scars to the left shoulder and upper arm.  However, the DVA rating decision notes that his service medical records were negative for shrapnel wounds and frozen feet both of which the applicant contends he sustained while he was a POW.

Current regulations permit the DVA to award compensation for a medical condition which was incurred in or aggravated by active military service.  The DVA, however, is not required to determine whether the circumstances of the medical condition meet the provision for award of the Purple Heart or any other military decoration.  In accordance with its own policies and regulations, it can 

award compensation to a veteran solely on the basis that a medical condition exists and that said medical condition reduces or impairs the social or industrial adaptability of the individual concerned.  Consequently, an individual's medical condition may be sufficient to qualify the individual for DVA benefits based solely on an evaluation by that agency.

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.

The same regulation provides that the POW Medal is authorized for any person who, while serving in any capacity with the US Armed Forces, was taken prisoner and held captive after 5 April 1917.

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 CIB or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

Technical Manual 12-235, Discharge Procedures and Preparation of Separation Forms, the directive then in effect, provides in pertinent part that the WD AGO Form 100 will be prepared from interview with the soldier.

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 that he was wounded as a result of hostile action or that he had ever been awarded a Purple Heart.  The records provided by the DVA show that he was granted service connection for scars to the shoulder and upper arm, which that agency has determined to be related to military service.  However, the DVA determination does not satisfy the standards for award of the Purple Heart, i.e. that substantiating evidence establish the injury was the result of hostile action and that treatment for the injury be recorded in official records.  Thus, he is not entitled to the Purple Heart.

2.  Neither has the applicant provided any convincing information to show that he was a POW.  It is noted that instructions for completing the WD AGO Form 100 are based upon interview of the soldier.  As such there is no independent 

confirmation of his POW status nor is there any information establishing the period of his imprisonment.  In the absence of such information there are no grounds for this Board to award the POW Medal.

3.  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.

NOTE:  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 reflects that he was awarded the CIB during his WWII service. He is therefore, entitled to be awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) based on the CIB.  Accordingly, the Army Review Board Agency, Support Division St. Louis will be requested to correct his separation form to reflect award of the BSM.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___jch___  ___rvo __  ________  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999031667	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000601	
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.