MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:  16 May 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999033072

	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.  Paul A. Petty		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Mr. Lester Echols		Member	
	Mr. Van B. Cunningham		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 he be awarded the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  In effect, that he was in a jeep accident on 1 January 1945 in Belgium which was directly caused by enemy artillery (buzz bomb).  He was substantially injured by the event and should be awarded the Purple Heart.

The applicant submits a statement the reads in part, “I was riding in a jeep that my 92nd FA Bn HQ had dispatched to pick me up at our airstrip, so I could be briefed on the coming 2nd Armored Division eminent offense against the German forces that had penetrated the Allied lines in the Belgium Ardennes Forest.  Apparently, the records failed to state the reason the jeep ‘slipped off of the road’ into a ditch, landed upside down, and on top of me.  A better description is that it was ‘blown off the road’ by a German ‘buzz bomb’ that landed in the road a few hundred feet in front of the vehicle.  …the injury which was sustained by me was in fact precisely due to direct contact/interaction with the enemy offensive effort.  I heard later that the Bn Motor Sergeant reported that the jeep was in ‘bad shape’ from the blast.”

The applicant provides a witness letter from a communications officer from his battalion which reads in part, “Some time before noon, Sergeant P., our HQ Battery Mess Sergeant, sent word that one of his cooks, who had been dispatched to the airstrip earlier, had returned in a complete daze, the result of some explosion and the wreck of his jeep.  The Sergeant reported his cook was unable to offer any clear explanation of what happened except he was sure that (the applicant) was badly hurt and was under the jeep in a ditch.  All other reports were vague.  However, SGT S., our Battalion Motor Sergeant, said after the jeep was recovered, close examination indicated the vehicle was practically a total lose because of more than just a roll-over at very slow speed.  Later we learned (the applicant) had been taken to a field hospital eight or ten miles Northwest.”

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records are not complete as they were partially destroyed in a fire at the National Personnel Records Archives in 1973.  There is no discharge document in his record.  Available records show that he entered active duty on 15 July 1941 as an enlisted soldier.  He was commissioned on 6 May 1942.  At the time of December 1944 to February 1945, he was an artillery lieutenant forward observer assigned to the 92nd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Armored Division, located in Belgium.  This information is gathered from later medical documents.  There are no specific records of this period except some Air Medal award recommendations, citations, and orders.  There are no direct records of the applicant’s injuries or their circumstances.

The first record that mentions the applicant’s injuries are from a 25 August 1945 Disposition Board conducted at Battey General Hospital in Rome, Georgia.  The 

proceedings list his injuries as compound fractures of the right leg tibia and fibula which were, “accidentally incurred in (an) army vehicle accident while performing routine duties 1 January 1945 in Belgium.”  The proceedings further state, “This officer sustained a compound comminuted fracture of the right tibia and fibula when a jeep in which he was riding slipped off the road and overturned on 
1 January 1945 in Belgium.  Treatment was by first aid and application of a cast. The patient passed through normal channels of evacuation, arriving at this hospital on 9 April 1945.”  The applicant at this time was a First Lieutenant.

The first mention of the injuries being caused by enemy action is recorded in a 
27 November 1946 Disposition Board Proceedings for Officers conducted at Pratt General Hospital in Coral Gables, Florida.  The proceedings ‘History of Present Illness’ records that, “Patient states that on 1 January 1945 near Huy, Belgium, the jeep in which he was riding overturned during a buzz bomb raid and (the) officer suffered a compound, comminuted fracture at the junction of the middle and distal third, right tibia and fibula.”  The applicant at this time was a Captain.  The information stated in the ‘History of Present Illness’ was also the same information given on the applicant’s retirement physical given on 25 July 1947 at Oliver General Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.

On 5 December 1996, the applicant applied to the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command Military Awards Branch for award of the Purple Heart.  The Military Awards Branch responded on 30 September 1999 that in order to award the Purple Heart, there must be official documentation provided that reflects medical treatment immediately following the incident and details of the incident.  The Military Awards Branch denied the request finding no adequate evidence in the applicant’s record to support award of the Purple Heart.

According to AR 600-8-22, Military Awards, award of the Purple Heart is made to soldiers wounded, injured, or killed from an outside force or agent as a result of an action against an enemy or an act of any such enemy.  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.  Wounds or injuries as a result of accident, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular and other accidental wounds not caused by enemy action do not qualify for award of the Purple Heart.  Concussion injuries caused as a result of enemy generated explosions can qualify for award of the Purple Heart but there must be a physical injury observed to qualify for a concussion injury.  Just being subjected to concussion does not constitute concussion injury.

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.  There is no direct evidence in the applicant’s available records that his injuries were as the result of enemy action.  On 25 August 1945, the medical records showed that the injuries were a result of, “the jeep in which he was riding slipped off the road and overturned”.  No mention was made of enemy action.  On 
27 November 1946, a medical disposition board proceeding records that the “Patient (applicant) states that on 1 January 1945 near Huy, Belgium, the jeep in which he was riding overturned during a buzz bomb raid.”  This is the applicant’s statement but there is no evidence in the record to support his statement.  His personal statement then and now are insufficient evidence to substantiate that his injuries were caused by enemy action.  The witness letter that the applicant supplies is not an eye witness statement of the occurrence of the injuries and it is too vague as to the actual cause of the injuries to be accepted as sufficient evidence that the injuries were caused by enemy action.

2.  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.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ___VC__  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__AO____  __LE____  ________  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999033072	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000516	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.