PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:  26 February 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2001063252

	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. Vic Whitney		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Joann Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Richard T. Dunbar		Member	
	Mr. Raymond J. Wagner		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 records be corrected to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation) shows that he was wounded in Korea.  He was provided a Purple Heart Certificate and medal but his DD Form 214 does not show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Documents from other sources show that he enlisted and entered active duty on 19 November 1948.  His foreign service included Japan and Korea.  He was separated from active duty effective 19 August 1952.

5.  The Purple Heart is not listed as an authorized award.  Block 29 (Wounds) of his DD Form 214 shows the entry “Shrapnel wound left shoulder Jul 50 Korea.”  There are no other documents in the available record, or provided by the applicant, concerning the wound.  The Department of Veterans Affairs does not have any information on file concerning his wound or military medical records showing treatment for a wound.

6.  On 9 October 1992, the Army Reserve Personnel Center issued the applicant a Purple Heart Certificate and authorized issuance of the medal.  No Purple Heart orders were ever published.

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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Notwithstanding the absence of additional documentation to support the shrapnel wound entry on his DD Form 214, it appears that the applicant is entitled to have his records corrected to show an award of the Purple Heart.

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 for the individual concerned be corrected by:

	a.  issuing orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in July 1950 in Korea; and

	b.  correcting his DD Form 214 to show the award of the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

__jl___  ___rd___  __rw___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Joann Langston__
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001063252	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20020226	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.