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Decision Text

ARMY | BCMR | CY1980-1989 | 8607956
Original file (8607956.rtf) Auto-classification: Approved
2. The applicant requests reconsideration of his request to correct his records by showing he was awarded the Purple Heart. In effect, he states he was wounded during World War II when he incurred multiple shrapnel wounds while engaging in combat with the enemy on 5 March 1945 at Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, Philippines.
3. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized from reconstructed military personnel records in a memorandum of consideration (MOC) prepared to reflect the Board’s original consideration of his case on 20 July 1988 (COPY ATTACHED).

4. The submission of an X-ray report from Kona Hospital, Hawaii dated 3 April 1994 which reveals a metallic type foreign body in the applicant’s midforearm constitutes new evidence.

5. Further documentation from the applicant entails a new notarized letter from the regimental surgeon of the 75 th Infantry Regiment who personally attended to and treated the applicant for multiple shrapnel wounds on 5 March 1945.

6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force. An example of an enemy-related injury which clearly justifies the award of the Purple Heart is concussion injuries caused as a result of enemy generated explosions.

7. 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

 CONCLUSIONS :

1. The medical evidence submitted by the applicant indicates the presence of a foreign metallic object in his forearm.

2. Ordinarily, witness statements are insufficient, in and of themselves to overcome the regulatory requirement that the treatment of a wound be a matter of record. However, in this case the Board considers that the statement of the treating physician taken together with the presence of retained fragments is sufficient to justify the award of the Purple Heart as an exception to policy.

3. The applicant was treated for wounds sustained under qualifying conditions and is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

4. In consideration of the foregoing findings and conclusions it would be appropriate to correct the applicants records as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION :

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the entitlement to the award of the Purple Heart as a result of enemy action on 5 March 1945.


 BOARD VOTE :

________ ________ ________ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION



                                                     
                                                      CHAIRPERSON

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