| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Ms. Deborah L. Brantley | Senior Analyst |
| Mr. Walter T. Morrison | Chairperson | |
| Mr. Arthur A. Omartian | Member | |
| Mr. John T. Meixell | Member |
2. The applicant requests that his military records be corrected to reflect award of the Purple Heart and POW (Prisoner of War) Medal. He states, in effect, that just prior to his capture by enemy forces he sustained a shrapnel wound to his left knee. He notes that there are no medical records to substantiate his injury but does submit three statements supporting his contention that he was wounded and suffered “inhumane treatment…at the hands of Korean enemy.”
3. Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active duty on
9 September 1949 and was honorably discharged on 14 January 1954. His DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) indicates he was overseas for 3 years, 1 month and 7 days. In 1976 his status as a Korean POW was confirmed. The confirmation document indicated that he was held prisoner for 994 days between November 1950 and August 1953. Officials at the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis authorized issuance of the POW Medal to the applicant in 1988 but there is no indication the award was ever added to his separation report.
4. A 1953 Neuropsychiatric Evaluation, conducted at the 52nd Medical Battalion in Korea, notes that the applicant was a “repatriate prisoner” who was admitted to the medical facility on 22 August 1953 “with a diagnosis of anxiety reaction, severe.” There is no mention in that document of any wounds sustained as a result of hostile action prior to the applicant being captured by enemy forces or during his period of captivity. A 1978 application for VA disability compensation makes note that the applicant “alleged disease or injury” to his “feet, nerves, back & hands” between 1950 and 1953 while in Korea but makes no mention of any shrapnel wounds sustained to his left knee.
5. The statements, submitted in support of the applicant’s petition to this Board, were authored in December 2000 and November 1995. While the statements indicate they knew the applicant while he was a POW none of them indicate that they were eyewitnesses to the shrapnel wound he maintains he sustained just prior to being captured. Item 29 (wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces) on his DD Form 214 reflects “NONE.”
6. During World War II and the Korean War the Purple Heart was not awarded to soldiers who had been injured while in captivity or while being taken captive. These injuries were considered to be the result of war crimes and not the result of a legal action of war. War Department policy, at that time, required that wounds must have been received in action against the enemy or, in other words, incurred in actual combat. Executive Order 11016, dated 25 April 1962, provided
more latitude with respect to award of the Purple Heart to prisoners of war, as well as the authority to award the decoration to wounded soldiers even in the absence of a formal declaration of war. The issue as to whether this change in policy would be implemented retroactively to prisoners of war from World War I, World War II, and the Korean War was considered several times. Initially it was decided that the change in policy would not be retroactively implemented. It was concluded that it would be inappropriate for the Department of Defense to retroactively change the standards and, in effect, countermand the decisions of the past leadership. However, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 1996 Congress authorized award of the Purple Heart to any former prisoner of war who was wounded before 25 April 1962 while held as a prisoner of war, or while being taken captive, in the same manner as a former prisoner of war who was wounded on or after that date.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the evidence clearly confirms the applicant was a POW and as such is entitled to the POW Medal there is insufficient evidence to confirm the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action during the Korean War.
2. Although awards of the Purple Heart were extended to those wounded while being taken captive and while held as a POW the requirement that the wound be made a matter of official record remained a requirement for entitlement to the Purple Heart. The applicant admits that there is no medical evidence to substantiate his shrapnel wound and the statements submitted in support of his application do not indicate that they were eyewitnesses to his left knee injury. In the absence of more compelling or definitive evidence the Board concludes there is no basis to award the applicant the Purple Heart.
3. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned is entitled to the POW Medal
based on his status as a POW during the Korean War.
2. That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.
BOARD VOTE:
__WTM__ __AAO__ __JTM __ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
___Walter T. Morrison _
CHAIRPERSON
| CASE ID | AR2001054674 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | YYYYMMDD |
| DATE BOARDED | 20010731 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | (HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR) |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | YYYYMMDD |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR . . . . . |
| DISCHARGE REASON | |
| BOARD DECISION | GRANT |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. | 107.00 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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