MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           16 January 2003
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002081690

	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	
	Mr. Hubert S. Shaw, Jr.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Ms. Marla J. Troup		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:  Through a Member of Congress, reconsideration of his previous requests for award of the Purple Heart.  [The applicant's records provided by the National Personnel Records Center contained a DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of a Military Record), dated 6 April 1998 and signed by a Veterans Service Officer for the American Legion.  There is no evidence that this DD Form 149 was forwarded to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) or that the applicant's 18 March 1985 application to the ABCMR was considered by a Board of the ABCMR.  Therefore, based on the request by the Member of Congress, the application, dated 6 April 1998, requesting award of the Purple Heart will be considered "De Novo."

APPLICANT STATES:  In effect, that he sustained a wound from shrapnel in his left hand, wrist and thumb on D-Day (6 June 1944) at Omaha Beach.  The DD Form 149, dated 6 April 1998 and signed by a Veterans Service Officer for the American Legion.  Attached to the DD 149 is an addendum which provides the Veteran Service Officer's statement of the facts in this case and provides several documents: a power of attorney for the American Legion to act on the applicant's behalf; a copy of a 29 October 1997 letter from an officer who states that he had personal knowledge of the applicant's wounding; a statement from a retired captain who also stated that, although not present, he knew of the applicant's wounding; a copy of the WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge); and four pages of a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) rating decision, dated 30 March 1998.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show that he was inducted on 25 March 1941 and completed training as a radio operator.  He served in the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 10 November 1943 to 21 December 1944.  The applicant was honorably discharged on 17 September 1945 in the grade of Technical Sergeant.

The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, which is authenticated in the applicant's own hand, does not show award of the Purple Heart in item 33 (Decorations and Citations).  Item 34 (Wounds Received in Action) shows the entry, "NONE."

The applicant's personnel file contains his service medical records.  There is no evidence in the applicant's medical records that he was wounded as a result of hostile action or treated for wounds or injuries resulting from hostile action.  

The applicant's separation medical examination, dated 16 September 1945, does not show any wounds in item 11 (List all significant diseases, wounds and injuries).  There are also no entries under the "Record of Physical Examination" which show scars or other conditions of the skin consistent with wounds or injuries from shrapnel. 
The applicant's records contain a copy of a Report of Physical Examination administered by the Veterans Administration on 29 June 1948.  This report of medical examination makes no reference to wounds or injuries resulting from hostile action during World War II.  Item 27 (Residuals of gunshot wounds or other injuries) of this medical examination contains no entries.

Records show that the applicant was examined and treated by the Veterans Administration numerous times during the period 1963 through 1984 without a single reference to scars, wounds or injuries to his left hand.

The addendum provided by the Veterans Service Officer of the American Legion states that on 6 June 1944 the applicant was assigned to the 294th Joint Signal Assault Company which landed on Omaha Beach as part of the invasion of Normandy.  Further, the applicant sustained "Shell Fragment Wounds" to his left hand, wrist and thumb upon arrival on the beach.  The Veterans Service Officer also stated that the applicant "was treated by a combat medica (sic medic) on the scene and released to duty."  

Attached to the application to the ABCMR were two witness statements.  The first statement is dated 29 October 1997 and was made by a fellow soldier who was a first lieutenant on D-Day.  He states he was present on Omaha on 6 June 1944 and he "has personal knowledge of the fact that you [the applicant] were struck on the left hand, near your thumb by shrapnel from enemy gunfire that day."  

The second statement is dated 20 March 1995 and was made by a fellow soldier who is a retired captain.  He states that the applicant was wounded while participating in the assault on Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944.  However, he states that he did not personally witness the wounding, but is aware that it did occur. 

Also attached to the application to the ABCMR is a DVA rating decision, dated 30 March 1998.  This document shows that the issue to be decided was a claim by the applicant for service connection for degenerative joint disease of the left thumb and left wrist (claimed as a fragment wound to the left hand).  Evidence available to the DVA included the applicant's service medical records for the period 25 March 1941 to 17 September 1945.  In the discussion of the claim, the rating decision stated that service medical records were negative for evidence of a left hand injury during active military service.  However, the rating decision stated that the applicant stated that he received a shrapnel wound to the left hand at the base of the thumb and pulled out the shrapnel himself because all the medics in his group had been killed.  The rating decision also pointed out that a first lieutenant stated that he had personal knowledge that the applicant had been wounded.

The DVA rating decision concluded that, based on the statement by the first lieutenant and the scar at the base of the applicant's left thumb, service connection was warranted for degenerative joint disease of the thumb and wrist and service connection for the scar at the base of the thumb as residuals of a fragment wound to the left hand 

The applicant's records contain a DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards) which shows that he was issued two bronze service stars to be worn on his European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, an award of the American Campaign Medal and an award of the World War II Victory Medal which are not shown on his WD AGO Form 53-55.  The Board will request that the Army Review Boards Agency Support Division in St. Louis, Missouri, administratively correct the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 to show these awards to which he is entitled.

The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows in item 32 (Battles and Campaigns) that he served in the Normandy and Northern France Campaigns during World War II.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), in pertinent part, authorizes award of a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in item 32 of the WD AGO Form 53-55 or Appendix B of this regulation and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate service medal which in this case is the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows that he served over two years of "Continental Service."  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the American Campaign Medal.  This campaign medal is awarded for qualifying service in the American Theater between 7 December 1941 and 2 March 1946.  Qualifying service includes service within the continental United States for an aggregate period of one year.

The applicant's service in the Army during World War II qualifies him for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the World War II Victory Medal.  It is awarded for service between 7 December 1941 and 31 December 1946, both dates inclusive.

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, 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.  The Board considered the applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart as stated in his application to the ABCMR, dated 6 April 1998.  The Board also considered all the records provided with the application and by the National Personnel Record Center and the DVA.

2.  There are no orders in the applicant's records which show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  There is no evidence of record which shows the applicant was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55, which he authenticated at the time of his separation from the Army, does not show that he was awarded the Purple Heart or wounded in action.  The applicant's separation medical examination does not show any scars or other skin conditions consistent with shrapnel wounds.

3.  The Board noted the statements of support by fellow soldiers.  However, these statements are not sufficient as a basis for award of the Purple Heart in view of the official records which show that the applicant was not wounded.  Further, each officer making the statement indicated he had personal knowledge that the applicant was wounded, but neither stated that he was an eyewitness.  Additionally, the addendum to the application indicated that the applicant was treated by a combat medic and returned to duty.  In his statement to the DVA, the applicant states that he treated himself.  Finally, medical records show that the applicant underwent a physical examination administered by the Veterans Administration on 29 June 1948 after he was separated from the Army and this examination revealed no wounds or injuries.

4.  The Board also noted the DVA rating decision which granted service connection for degenerative joint disease of the thumb and wrist and service connection for the scar at the base of the thumb as residuals of a fragment wound to the left hand.  However, in this rating decision, the DVA noted there was no medical evidence of a wound or injury to the applicant's left hand sustained during his active duty service.  

5.  Based on the foregoing, the Board has determined that the preponderance of evidence shows the applicant was not wounded as a result of hostile action during World War II.  As a result, there is insufficient evidence in this case upon which to base award of the Purple Heart.

6.  The applicant is entitled to administrative correction of his records to show award of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars, award of the American Campaign Medal and award of the World War II Victory Medal.

7.  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 either requirement.

8.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart.

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

NOTE:  The Board requests the Army Review Boards Agency Support Division in St. Louis, Missouri, administratively correct the applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 to show award of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars, award of the American Campaign Medal and award of the World War II Victory Medal.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__AAO__  __RVO__  ___MJT__  DENY APPLICATION

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

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002081690	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20030116	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	MR CHUN	
ISSUES         1.	107.0000.0000	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.