PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           24 October 2002                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002079317

	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. Edmund P. Mercanti		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		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 requests that he be awarded the Purple Heart (PH).

3.  The applicant states that he has a statement from the medic who treated him which verifies that he was wounded.

4.  In support of his application he submits a statement from the medic assigned to his company.  The medic states that the applicant’s hand was cut by a shell ejected from a machine gun.  The medic continues that he cut away the flesh hanging from the cut, bandaged the cut, and the applicant was returned to duty.

5.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 6 June 1950, was awarded the military occupational specialty of light vehicle driver, served in the Korean War, and was promoted to pay grade E-4.  On 18 December 1953, he immediately reenlisted and served continuously until his honorable discharge in pay grade E-4 at the expiration of his term of service on 18 December 1959.  His separation document shows that he was awarded the United Nations Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal with 4 bronze service stars, the Good Conduct Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, the National Defense Service Medal, the Bravery Gold Medal of Greece, and marksmanship qualification badges.  Item 29 of the applicant’s first separation document, and Item 27 of his second separation document, Wounds Received As A Result Of Action With Enemy Forces, have “None” entered.

6.  In a prior request submitted by the applicant to the Board concerning other issues, he submitted statements from soldiers who were assigned with him which shows that he served in Korea from 2 November 1950 to 2 November 1951.

7.  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.

8.  A health record research project, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files", involved transposing the hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean conflict onto magnetic tape.  In 1988 the National Research Council made these tape files available to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  Searches of these files fail to show that the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The statement from the medic who treated the applicant places his wound during the time which he served in Korea, as established by the statements submitted with the applicant's prior application to the Board.  As such, the medic's statement is accepted as evidence that he was wounded as a result of hostile action and that he was treated by a medical officer.  The Board also accepts this statement as fulfilling the requirement of having the medical treatment made a matter of official record (the regulation does not specify a time limit to make the treatment a matter of official record).

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 PH for wounds he sustained in Korea.

BOARD VOTE:  

___bje __  ___kah__  ___rvo __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		________Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002079317	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20021024	
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.