PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            1 August 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999033064

	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. Deborah S. Jacobs		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that he was injured on 24 May 1945 in Germany when 1000 pounds of TNT exploded near him.

4.  In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) and a copy of a hospital admission card dated 24 May 1945 showing that he was admitted and treated for blast injuries.

5.  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 provided by the applicant.

6.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 11 May 1943 and served in the European Theater of Operation from June 1944 to January 1946 as an Anti-Tank NCO.  He was honorably discharged at demobilization on             18 January 1946 in the grade of corporal. 

7.  His awards include the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with Five Bronze Stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation, the World War II Victory Medal, the Marksman Badge with Pistol and Carbine Bars and the World War II Honorable Service Lapel Button.

8.  The hospital admission card provided by the applicant shows that on 24 May 1945 he was admitted to the 108th Evacuation Hospital in Germany with a moderately severe blast injury to the chest, a mild concussion and laceration wounds to the right thigh and scalp.  The admission card states that the injuries were incurred when 1000 pounds of TNT were exploded near the soldier.

9.  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.

10. The same regulation provided that subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) 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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence provided by the applicant shows that he was wounded during his World War II service and that such wounds were recorded in his medical records and entitle him to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  Furthermore, his WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the CIB during his World War II service which entitles him to the BSM based on the revised criteria for that decoration for recipients of the CIB.

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 for wounds received in action on 24 May 1945;

	b.  showing that he was awarded the BSM based on his award of the CIB; and

	c.  issuing a correction to his WD AGO Form 53-55 showing the previously mentioned awards.

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____dsj _  ___kak __  __ewj___  DENY APPLICATION

		________Deborah S. Jacobs_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999033064	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	YYYYMMDD	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.