MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            18 July 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999033728

	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. George D. Paxson		Chairperson	
	Ms. Elizabeth Buchannon		Member	
	Ms. Margaret V. Thompson		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:  That his military records be corrected to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart and that a DD Form 215, Correction of Separation Document, be issued reflecting the award.

APPLICANT STATES:  That the Purple Heart was omitted from his WD AGO Form 53-55, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation.  He contends that he was issued a Purple Heart from US Army Headquarters Command, Washington, D.C. but never received actual authorization for the award.

In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his WD AGO Form 53-55; a personal statement recapping events before, during and following his captivity as a Prisoner of War (POW) of the Germans in World War II; a Social Services Report and Summary describing his long-standing fragile emotional situation; a clinical record from 18 April 1945 describing his condition following his release from captivity; an extract from a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Exam (undated); an extract from a history of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (his unit during WWII) which names the applicant and portrays his actions in Belgium which apparently led to his award of the Silver Star; a copy of Social Work Progress Notes dated 5 October 1998, regarding his PTSD and a page from the VA application and evaluation of his POW experiences.

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 furnished by the applicant and alternate sources.

His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was inducted on 29 September 1942 and served in the European Theater of Operations from December 1943 to        21 June 1945, principally with Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.  He was honorably discharged at demobilization on 18 September 1945 in the grade of corporal.  The report of separation does not show that he was a POW.

His awards include the Silver Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The available record contains no evidence showing that he has been awarded any decorations (such as the POW Medal) since his separation on 18 September 1945.

In the personal statement accompanying his application, the applicant states 

that he suffered numb but not frozen feet during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and that he suffered malnutrition, starvation and ear and jaundice infections as a result of his captivity.  He weighed between 80 and 90 pounds when he returned to friendly forces.  The record does not show that he was wounded in action.

The Clinical Record prepared on his admittance to the 21st Evacuation Hospital on 18 April 1945 shows that he was suffering from hepatitis with jaundice.  The history and condition on admission portion of the form describes his maladies as being incident to captivity.

The Social Services Report and Summary and the PTSD Exam describe the privation he experienced as a POW and the trauma and emotional turmoil he currently suffers as a result of having been a POW.

A National Personnel Records Center Search Request Form shows that the applicant was a POW from 22 December 1944 to 18 April 1945. 

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.  “Examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not qualify for award of the Purple Heart include …post traumatic stress disorder.”

The same regulation provides that 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 Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.

The awards regulation also authorized the American Campaign Medal to be awarded for service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and      2 March 1946; and, the World War II Victory Medal for service between                7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946.

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.

The Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register, DA Pamphlet    672-1 lists units that have been awarded foreign awards.  The register shows that the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment was awarded the French Fourragere for actions on 5-20 June 1944, the Netherlands Orange Lanyard for actions between 17 September and 4 October 1944 and the Belgian Fourragere for actions from 17-31 December 1944 and 1-23 January 1945.

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 available records contain no information showing that the applicant was previously issued the Purple Heart.  Nor, is there any evidence to substantiate that he is entitled to the Purple Heart as a result of wounds received in action during WWII.  Under current criteria, PTSD is not considered as qualifying condition for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  Captivity in and of itself does not authorize the Purple Heart despite the fact that systematic and prolonged deprivation and maltreatment may have been involved.  Rather, it must be shown through evidence/witness statements that the individual suffered wounds while a prisoner of the foreign force. He has not submitted evidence that satisfies this requirement.

3.  After reviewing the available information concerning the applicant’s service and unit of assignment during WWII, it is apparent that he is entitled to multiple service and foreign awards, as indicated in the note below, which have not been listed on his WD AGO Form 53-55 or provided to him.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request for the Purple Heart.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

NOTE:  The Army Review Board Agency Support Division, St. Louis, Missouri will be requested to provide the applicant with a correction to his WD AGO Form 53-55 showing that he is entitled to the Bronze Star Medal, 

(based on having been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge), the POW Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the French Fourragere, the Netherlands Orange Lanyard and the Belgian Fourragere.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__gdp___  __eb____  ___mvt __  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999033728	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	YYYYMMDD	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	20000718	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.