IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 22 July 2008 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080008242 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests that he be awarded the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states he never received the Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds to his back and head at Sowon, Korea on 29 January 1951. 3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States). CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing. 2. The applicant's military records were partially lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. Information herein was obtained from reconstructed personnel records consisting primarily of the applicant's DD Form 214. 3. The DD Form 214 shows the following: a. the applicant entered active duty on 9 August 1950 and was honorably released from active duty on 8 August 1953; b. his awards are listed as the Korean Service Medal with three bronze service stars, the United Nations Service Medal, the Army Occupation Medal with Germany clasp, and the Combat Infantryman Badge; c. his most significant duty assignment was C Company, 35th Infantry Regiment in Korea; and d. he received shrapnel wounds, as a result of enemy action, to the back of his back and head at Sowon, Korea, on 29 January 1951. 4. In the development of this case a search of the health record research project records, commonly referred to as the "SGO Files", was made. These records 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). This information is a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973. A search of these files found that the applicant received wounds as a result of enemy action on 29 January 1951. 5. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), paragraph 2-8 provides for award of the Purple Heart to an individual who is wounded in action against an enemy of the United States, the armed force of a foreign country which is or has been engaged, while serving with a friendly foreign forces against an opposing force even though the U.S. is not engaged, as the result of any act of such enemy or opposing force or as a result an act of any hostile foreign force. 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. 6. Army Regulation 600-8-22, paragraph 9-16 provides for award of the Republic of Korea War Service Medal to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in Korea and adjacent waters between 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's DD Form 214 specifically states that he received wounds as a result of enemy action on 29 January 1951. 2. The SGO report supports a finding that he received the combat wounds that required treatment by a medical officer and the medical treatment was a matter of official record. 3. Therefore, it is appropriate to correct the applicant's records by awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received on 29 January 1951. 4. In addition to the awards listed on the DD Form 214, the applicant is also authorized award of the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. BOARD VOTE: ____X___ ___X____ ___X___ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received on 29 January 1951 and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. _ ____X___ ___ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080008242 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080008242 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1