APPLICANT REQUESTS:  The former service member’s (FSM) step-daughter requests that he be awarded the Purple Heart for injuries suffered in World War I.

APPLICANT STATES:  That in 1917 the FSM was hospitalized in Bordeaux, France for 6 months due to the loss of his thumb in combat.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.  Information herein was obtained from reconstructed records.

He enlisted in the Regular Army on 3 October 1917 and after service in France, he was honorably discharge on 15 January 1919.

The FSM’s Form No. 525, AGO, Honorable Discharge and Enlistment Record, is blank following the entry entitled “wounds received in service”.  His medical records show, however, that while in France, he suffered a gunshot wound to the right thumb resulting in amputation.  The hospital admission report indicates that the wound was the result of an accident.  Likewise, a daily report of casualties and changes, dated 7 August 1918 for the unit to which he was assigned, shows that his injury was accidentally incurred.

In an advisory opinion to this Board (COPY ATTACHED) the US Army Reserve Personnel Center recommends that the Purple Heart not be approved for the FSM.

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.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, and advisory opinion, it is concluded:

1.  While the evidence of record shows that the FSM suffered an injury in France during World War I, it does not show that the injury was the result of enemy action.  In fact, the medical reports prepared at the time indicate that the amputation of his thumb was the result of an accident rather than action with the enemy. 

2.  Based on the available records, the FSM did not sustain a wound during his service that would qualify him for award of the Purple Heart.

3.  In view of the foregoing, there appears to be 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

                       DENY APPLICATION




						Karl F. Schneider
						Acting Director