PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           8 October 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002076209

	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	
	Ms. Nancy L. Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Jennifer L. Prater		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Mr. James E. Anderholm		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 deceased brother, a former service member (FSM), be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that the FSM told him he was on Okinawa, on a mission to flush out any remaining enemy soldiers, when a grenade landed several yards away from him.  He felt a sharp pain in his side.  The medic put him in for a Purple Heart but upon being discharged he was told they lost the record of the event.

4.  The FSM’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire in 1973.  Information contained herein was obtained from alternate sources.

5.  The FSM was inducted into the Army and entered active duty on 22 August 1944.  He arrived in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations on 25 February 1945.

6.  Office of the Surgeon General Hospital Admission Cards show that the FSM was hospitalized on 23 June 1945 as a battle casualty as a result of being wounded in the face, forehead, and frontal region by artillery shell fragments.  

7.  The FSM separated on 28 October 1946.  His Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, WD AGO Form 53-55, shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and several campaign ribbons but not the Purple Heart.

8.  The FSM died on 14 May 2002.

9.  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.  It also provides for award of the Bronze Star Medal to members of the armed forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While there is no evidence to show the FSM was wounded by a grenade, there is evidence to show he was wounded and medically treated for injuries resulting from artillery shell fragments.  He met the eligibility criteria for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The FSM also met the eligibility criteria for award of the Bronze Star Medal based upon award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  In view of the foregoing, the FSM’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 awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds received on 23 June 1945 and the Bronze Star Medal.

BOARD VOTE:  

__JLP__  __MHM__  __JEA  __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		  ___Irene N. Wheelwright___
		           CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002076209	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2002/10/08	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	FULL RELIEF	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.