PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:                24 February 1999
	DOCKET NUMBER:       AR1999015243

	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	
	Mr. Hubert S. Shaw, Jr.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Calvin M. Fowler		Chairperson	
	Mr. Mark D. Manning		Member	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		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 correction of his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that his discharge does not show that he was wounded in spite of the facts that he has service connected disability for shrapnel wound of the right leg and that he was issued the Purple Heart by Department of the Army. 

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show he was inducted on 11 July 1944.  He served in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations from 18 February 1945 to 23 July 1946.  The applicant was honorably discharged on 10 August 1946. 

5.  The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  There are no orders or other evidence which shows that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart during his service in World War II.

6.  The applicant provided a copy of his Department of Veterans Affairs rating decision, dated 21 February 1996, which states that the applicant “sustained a right leg wound in action.  The applicant’s records contained a newspaper item which stated his parents had been notified that he was wounded on 2 April 1945 on the Island of Luzon, the Philippines.  The applicant’s records also contain a DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 27 July 1995, which shows that he was authorized award of the Purple Heart by the U.S. Army Reserve Personnel Center.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There are no orders in the records available to the Board which awarded the Purple Heart to the applicant.

2.  The regulatory requirements for award of the Purple Heart have not been met by evidence of record which shows the applicant was wounded due to hostile action and treated for those wounds.  However, the Board notes the applicant’s records are not complete and the other evidence submitted to include the Department of Veterans Affairs rating decision, the newspaper clipping showing the applicant was wounded, and the Authorization for Issuance of Awards.  In view of the foregoing, the Board has determined, as an exception to regulation, that the applicant is entitled to award of the Purple Heart in this case.
3.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) of the individual concerned be corrected to show he was wounded on 2 April 1945 in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations and was awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

CMF____  MDM____  BJE_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999015243	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990224	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19460816	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365	
DISCHARGE REASON	DEMOBILIZATON	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	MR HARRELL	
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.