PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:            21 July 1999                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999015607

	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. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Curtis W. Barbee		Chairperson	
	Mr. James M. Alward		Member	
	Mr. Robert G. Hinkle		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 record be corrected to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded in Chorwon, Korea in 1951 from a mortar round fragment but has not received the Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted on 16 February 1951 and served as a light weapons infantryman in Korea for 1 year, 1 month and      12 days.  He was honorably discharged on 20 November 1952 in the grade of corporal.  His awards include the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  His DD Form 214, Report of Separation, contains the entry “none” in block 29 (wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces).

6.  Medical evidence of record shows that on 15 October 1951 he was wounded in the finger as a result of fragments from a mortar round and subsequently evacuated and treated for follow-on infection of his wound.  The medical documentation seems to indicates that he was to have been awarded the Purple Heart for his injury.

7.  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

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of record shows that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action in Korea on 15 October 1951 and is entitled to the Purple Heart for that wound.

2.  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 showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in Korea on 15 October 1951.

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999015607	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990721	
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.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.