MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION


         IN THE CASE OF:
        


         BOARD DATE: 23 July 2002
         DOCKET NUMBER: AR2002069245

         I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director
Mr. Hubert S. Shaw, Jr.		Analyst

The following members, a quorum, were present:

Ms. Jennifer L. Prater		Chairperson
Mr. Hubert O. Fry		Member
Ms. Gail J. Wire		Member

         The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date. In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

         The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

         The Board considered the following evidence:

         Exhibit A - Application for correction of military
records
         Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
         advisory opinion, if any)

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APPLICANT REQUESTS: Award of the Silver Star and, in effect, three awards of the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES: That the attached pages from the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) Proceedings in Docket Number AR2001061181, dated 20 December 2001, and the attached letter dated 1973 attest to his wounds. In support of his application he submitted a copy of a letter, prepared by a fellow soldier and dated 19 April 1973 by the Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency; a copy of a 9 January 1945 letter listing the applicant’s awards; four pages of medical records and a WD AGO Form 24-3 (Insert to Service Record) consisting of one page.

The Board noted the applicant’s request for award of the Silver Star. However, the applicant has not exhausted the administrative remedy available to him under the provisions of Section 1130, Title 10, United States Code. He has been notified by separate correspondence regarding submission of a recommendation for award of the Silver Star under this provision of law. As a result, award of the Silver Star requested by the applicant is not discussed further in this Memorandum of Consideration.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant’s military records were lost or destroyed in the National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973.

Records available to the Board were obtained from alternate sources and show the applicant entered active duty on 24 October 1940. He served as an infantryman European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations from 7 August 1942 through 7 October 1944. The applicant was honorably separated from active duty on 11 July 1945.

The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation) shows only award of the Combat Infantryman Badge based on Headquarters 18th Infantry Regiment General Order 18, dated 1 August 1944, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal.

The applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 does not show any awards of the Purple Heart.

The ABCMR Proceedings in Docket Number AR2001061181, dated 20 December 2001, show that the applicant was entitled to the following additional awards: the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 4 April 1943; the Bronze Star Medal based on award of the Combat Infantryman Badge; The Expert Infantry Badge, the Presidential Unit Citation; the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two bronze service stars; the World War II Victory Medal; and the American Campaign Medal.
The ABCMR Proceedings in Docket Number AR2001061181, dated 20 December 2001, and the applicant’s WD AGO Form 53-55 do not show that he was awarded more than one award of the Purple Heart.

The applicant provided a statement, dated 19 April 1973 by the Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency, from an individual who asserts that he served with the applicant during the North African Campaign. This same statement was provided by the applicant with his application to the ABCMR, dated 7 August 2001, which was considered by the ABCMR as Docket Number AR2001061181 on 20 December 2001. This statement essentially indicates that the fellow soldier “had seen [the applicant’s name omitted] wounded and receive the Purple Heart.” He acknowledges that the applicant was wounded in December 1943 or January 1944 in the back and was again wounded in the feet by shrapnel during operation near El Guitar. The fellow soldier also stated that, approximately five days before the end of the African Campaign, the applicant and another soldier were sent to check a communications line and the applicant was wounded in the arm and treated at the aid station. The fellow soldier wrote that the first sergeant said he would report the wound for a “cluster” [a bronze oak leaf cluster].” The fellow soldier also stated that, at a battalion formation, the applicant “received a Cluster to his Purple Heart.” He concluded that the applicant was sent back to the Station Hospital in May 1943 to get “shrapnel removed from his toes as they were turning black.”

The applicant also provided a copy of a letter, dated 9 January 1945, addressed to whom it may concern. This letter states that the applicant was authorized to wear the following: 1) Silver Star; 2) Presidential Citation (unit); 3) Purple Heart; 4) Combat Infantry Badge; 5) Good Conduct Medal; 6) Pre-Pearl Harbor (one star); 7) American Theater of Operations; 8) European Theater of Operations (3 campaign stars). This letter is signed by the captain in command of the 207th Training Battalion at Camp Blanding, Florida.

The hospital admission records of the Office of The Surgeon General of the Army show that the applicant sustained a penetrating shell fragment wound to the left wrist in April 1943. This record does not show the specific date of the wounding contrary to information stated in the previous ABCMR Proceedings.

A medical record (identified with “#5”) provided by the applicant shows that he was treated at the 3rd Battalion Aid Station on 28 April 1943 for a shell fragment wound to the left wrist resulting from “enemy fire in battle field 28 April.” This record also contains the entry WIA 0900 [wounded in action 9:00 am] and shows the applicant was treated and returned to duty. This medical record is authenticated by a medical officer.

A medical record (identified with “#7”) provided by the applicant shows that he was treated at the 40th Station Hospital on 4 June 1943 for “ingrowing nail, 1st toe, bilateral” and for “Cyst pilonidal.” These records show that he was subsequently transferred to the 2nd Convalescent Hospital. The copy of the WD AGO Form 24-3 provided by the applicant shows that he was classified to limited service on 1 November 1943 at the 2nd Convalescent Hospital due to his ingrown toe nail and his pilonidal cyst.

Two other medical documents provided by the applicant show that he underwent an eye examination on “12/11/41” and was treated on 7 January 1944 and 15 February 1944 for a back condition not the result of hostile action.

The hospital admission records of the Office of The Surgeon General of the Army show only that the applicant was wounded one time as a result of hostile action.
There is no other evidence of record or other medical evidence which shows that the applicant was wounded more than one time as a result of hostile action.

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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. The bronze oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of certain decorations, among which is the Purple Heart.

DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1. The hospital admission records of the Office of The Surgeon General of the Army show that the applicant sustained a penetrating shell fragment wound to the left wrist in April 1943. The applicant provided a medical record which shows that he treated for a shell fragment wound of the left wrist on 28 April 1943. These medical records document the same wound, not two different wounds.

2. The Board considered the statement by the fellow soldier which indicated that the applicant was also wounded in the back and was also wounded in the feet. Contrary to the statement by the fellow soldier, medical records show that the applicant was treated for ingrown toe nails and a back condition which were not the result of hostile action. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base any additional awards of the Purple Heart in this case.

3. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy either requirement.

4. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION: The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________ ________ ________ GRANT

________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__HOF__ __GJW__ __JLP____ DENY APPLICATION

                  Carl W. S. Chun
                  Director, Army Board for Correction
of Military Records

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INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002069245
SUFFIX
RECON	YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED	20020723
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION	DENY
REVIEW AUTHORITY	MR CHUN
ISSUES 1.	107.0000.0000
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.