PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:           22 December 1999                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999031823

	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. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Ms. Wanda L. Waller		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		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 award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he injured his back during combat on
7 April 1945.  In support of his application, he submits VA documentation, an Honorable Discharge Certificate, his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation), copies of service medical records and two pages of partial European itinerary of the 63rd Infantry Division units and selected attached units in World War II.   

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed or lost during the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show that the applicant was inducted on
5 September 1944.  He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 31 January 1945 to 6 August 1945 and was honorably discharged on 20 June 1946.   

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

6.  Service medical records show that the applicant was injured on 7 April 1945 during combat.  

7.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  The regulation also states, in pertinent part, that 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 made a matter of official record.     

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Medical evidence of record shows the applicant was injured during combat on 7 April 1945; therefore, he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart and correction of his military records to show award of the Purple Heart.

2.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’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 showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart. 

BOARD VOTE:  

RVO____  AAO_____  EWL____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999031823	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19991222	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460620	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365  	
DISCHARGE REASON	Convenience of Government RR1-1 Demobilization	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.