2. The applicant requests correction of his military records to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star Medal (BSM), the Good Conduct Medal (GCM) and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).
3. He states that the aforementioned awards were omitted from his DD Form 214, Report of Separation, when he was separated from the service.
4. The applicant's military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973. Information herein was obtained from reconstructed personnel records.
5. He entered active duty on 12 March 1942 and was honorably discharged in the grade of sergeant on 18 September 1945.
6. Hospital admission records show that on 17 November 1944, he was admitted to a hospital in the European Theater of Operations as a battle casualty for treatment of a compound fracture of the left arm resulting from a bullet wound. There is no evidence to show that he was treated for combat wounds on more than one occasion. The record also shows that he was an infantryman at the time of his injury.
7. There are no records available to indicate that he was recommended for or awarded the BSM, GCM or CIB.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, 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.
9. The same regulation provides, that the CIB is awarded to Army infantry or special forces officers in the grade of colonel or below, or to Army enlisted soldiers or warrant officers with an infantry or special forces military occupational specialty who, subsequent to 6 December 1941, satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or attached as a member of an infantry, ranger or special forces unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in active ground combat. Battle participation credit alone is not sufficient. The unit must have been in active ground combat with the enemy during the period.
10. The awards regulation also provides that subsequent to the cessation of hostilities during World War II, the regulation governing the award of the BSM was changed, in part, to provide for the award of this decoration to those individuals who had been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Combat Medical Badge for meritorious achievement in ground combat against the armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The record shows that the applicant was a battle casualty and met the requirements for award of the Purple Heart. There is, however, no evidence to show that he was wounded on more than one occasion which would make him eligible for an oak leaf cluster to his Purple Heart.
2. While there is no evidence in the available records that he was awarded the CIB, the hospital admission record does show that he was an infantryman and that he was wounded in combat, therefore, it may reasonably be presumed that he would also be eligible for award of the CIB.
3. Based on the regulatory change that awards the BSM to holders of the CIB for service during World War II, the applicant is also eligible for that award.
4. There is no evidence of record and the applicant has provided no evidence to support that the awarded of the GCM.
5. In view of the foregoing, the applicants records should be corrected as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected:
a. by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in November 1944 in the European Theater of Operations; and
b. by showing that he was also awarded the CIB and the BSM for service during World War II.
2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
DENY APPLICATION
CHAIRPERSON
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