MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           04 APRIL 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001065593

	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	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Mr. Roger W. Able		Member	
	Ms. Karen Y. Fletcher		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:  Award of the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  He sustained "injuries" during his military service and indicates that those injuries were the result of a "shrapnel wound on [his] right thumb and left knee."  In support of his request he submits a 2001 VA decision document granting him "service connection" for a scar on his right thumb and left knee.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were likely lost or destroyed during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information contained herein was reconstructed from information provided by the applicant.

He entered active duty in 1952 and served nearly 15 months overseas where he was awarded the Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.  He was released from active duty in 1954.  His DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States), which he authenticated, does not reflect entitlement to the Purple Heart and item 29 (wounds received as a result of hostile action with enemy forces) reflects "None."

The 2001 VA document, submitted in support of the applicant's petition, notes that the applicant claimed that scars on his thumb and knee were the result of "getting hit in the left knee and right thumb with shrapnel in the summer of 1953." He indicated to the VA that the "wounds were taped and treated in the field."  The VA document also notes that the applicant's "available service medical records, including the veteran's service separation examination report, are negative for any indication that the veteran sustained wounds to the right thumb and left knee in service."  

There were no medical records available to the Board.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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.

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.  There is no evidence, and the applicant has not provided any, which confirms he was wounded as a result of hostile action.  The VA's determination, rendered nearly 50 years after the fact, is not sufficient justification for the Board to conclude that the applicant is entitled to the Purple Heart.  The requirements for award of the Purple Heart included evidence that an individual was wounded as the result of hostile action, that such wounds required treatment by a medical officer, and that such treatment was made a matter of official records.  There is no evidence available to the Board which confirms any of those requirements.

2.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy that requirement.

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

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

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___AAO_  __RWA__  __KYF __  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001065593	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020404	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.