PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           29 January 2002                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001058349

	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. W. Osborn, Jr.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Ms. Karen A. Heinz		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’s 6 June 2001 application is, in effect, a request for reconsideration of his earlier appeal to award him the Purple Heart and a bronze service star for participation in the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign (popularly called the Battle of the Bulge).

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his unit the 494th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, served in the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign and the affidavits from his crewmembers demonstrate that he was wounded as the result of enemy action.

4.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records that were summarized in a memorandum of consideration (MOC) prepared to reflect the Board’s previous consideration of the case (AR1999031319) on 12 April 2000.

5.  Army Regulation 15-185 sets forth the policy and procedures for the ABCMR. It restricts Board review of reconsideration requests that are received more than
1 year after the Board’s original consideration or after the Board has already reconsidered the case.  The staff of the Board will refer such a case to the Board only if there is substantial relevant evidence that shows fraud, mistake in law, mathematical miscalculation, manifest error, or if there is substantial relevant new evidence discovered contemporaneously with or within a short time after the Board’s original decision.

6.  The applicant’s current request for reconsideration was received more than 1 year after the Board’s original consideration.  However, the applicant’s original appeal for award of a bronze service star for the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign was neither displayed nor addressed.  This constitutes a manifest error that requires Board review of the case.

7.  Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) shows that the applicant’s unit served in the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign and is credited with occupation of Germany from 2 May 1944 to 31 October 1944.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 authorizes a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign or service medal including the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. 

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides, that the Army of Occupation Medal is awarded for service of thirty consecutive days at a normal post of duty in a qualifying location.  Personnel at a qualifying location as an inspector, courier, escort, temporary or detached duty are precluded from eligibility.  For Germany, 
occupation service must have been between 9 May 1945 and 5 May 1955 and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal must have been awarded prior to 9 May 1945.  A metal clasp with the word “Germany” will be worn on the Army of Occupation Medal by all occupation soldiers who served in Europe. 

10.  The regulation also provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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

11.  The morning reports of the applicant’s unit do not show that he was wounded as the result of enemy action.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant is entitled to award of a bronze service star for the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign and the Army of Occupation Medal.  These awards should be shown on his discharge document.

2.  The Board again takes note of the statements of the applicant’s comrades-in-arms to the effect that, on or about 13 December 1944, he sustained a fragment wound as the result of an enemy artillery bombardment.  However, the statements of individuals are inadequate as the sole basis for an award of the Purple Heart because they do not fulfill the regulatory requirement that there be a record of medical treatment.  

3.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded campaign credit for the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign.  He is authorized the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars and the Army of Occupation Medal with “Germany” clasp.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

_AAO___  __MHM__  ___KAH_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_     Arthur A. Omartian_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001058349	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20020129	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	MODIFY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.