PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            1 June 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999032346

	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. Jeanie M. Biggs		                       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 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 his military records be corrected to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he suffered wounds to both legs in Italy in 1944 and should be awarded the Purple Heart for his injuries.  In support of his request, he has provided a newspaper article stating that he was wounded in action on 2 June 1944. 

4.  The applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Record Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from other sources and available medical records.

5.  The applicant’s reconstructed records show that he was inducted on 24 March 1941 and departed for the European Theater of Operations on 21 August 1943.  He remained there until his return to the United States where he was honorably discharged on 28 February 1945 in the rank of private first class.  

6.  The record, reflects the entry “none” in the block entitled wounds received in service.  However, Hospital Admission Card data files created by the Office of the Surgeon General show that the applicant was a combat casualty, having received penetrating leg wounds as a result of artillery shell fragments in Italy in 1944.  The records further show that the injury was determined to have been in the line of duty.

7.  His awards include the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal, the Good Conduct Ribbon, the American Defense Ribbon, the Battle Honors Italian Campaign Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The record does not reflect that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM).

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides that subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the BSM was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

9.  The awards regulation also 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 his medical treatment must have been made of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record establishes that the applicant was a battle casualty and suffered leg wounds as a result of artillery shell fragment in Italy in 1944.    As such, he is entitled to be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  Additionally, based on the applicant having received the CIB, he is also entitled to the BSM.

3.  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:
a.  showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal (based on the CIB); and for wounds sustained in Italy on 2 June 1944; and

 b.  issuing a correction to his Enlisted Record reflecting his entitlement to the above awards.

BOARD VOTE:  

_jch_____  ___rvo__  __mhm__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

						______James C. Hise__________
						        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999032346	
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	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.107		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.