PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            23 April 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001065977

	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. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Mark D. Manning		Member	
	Mr. Thomas Lanyi		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 reflect his award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that he was awarded the Purple Heart in the hospital and it was never entered on his separation document (WD AGO Form 53-55). 

4.  The applicant’s military records were destroyed in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, which destroyed millions of service records.  However, information obtained from reconstructed records show that he was inducted on 10 February 1943 and entered active duty at Camp Upton, New York, on 17 February 1943.

5.  He completed his training as a rifleman and departed for the North Atlantic Theater of Operations on 21 April 1944.  He was then transferred to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and then to the European Theater of Operations on 15 August 1944.  He participated in the Rhineland, Rome Arno, and Southern France Campaigns.

6.  On 4 January 1945, he was wounded in action (shrapnel to right heel) and was captured by German forces in Belgium.  He remained a prisoner of war (POW) until he was repatriated on 2 April 1945 and departed for the United States on 28 May 1945.

7.  On 18 December 1945, he was honorably discharged at Fort Dix, New Jersey in the rank of corporal.  His WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he was awarded the American Service Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal with two bronze service stars, the World War II Victory Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal.  It also does not show that he received any wounds in action.

8.  On 18 February 1946, the Veterans Administration (VA) awarded him a service connected pension for Dysentery and a shrapnel wound to the right foot.

9.  The applicant was subsequently awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), and the POW Medal.  However, there is no indication that they were ever entered on his WD AGO Form 53-55. 

10.  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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although the evidence in this case is very limited, the Board finds that since the VA awarded him a disability pension for a shrapnel wound within two months of his discharge, when his records were still available, it is reasonable to presume that he was awarded the Purple Heart as he claims.  Accordingly, that award should be entered in his records at this time.

2.  Likewise, his awards of the BSM, CIB and POW Medal, which were also omitted, should be entered at this time as well. 

3.  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, the BSM, the CIB and the POW Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

___kak__  __mdm __  ___tl____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Karol A. Kennedy_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001065977	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/04/23	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  189	110.0000/CORR 214	
2.  60	107.0014/BSM	
3.  61	107.0015/PH	
4.  75	107.0029/POW MDL	
5.  157	107.0111/CIB	
6.