RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:           23 November 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040001972


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

|     |Mr. Carl W. S. Chun               |     |Director             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Fred N. Eichorn               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. John T. Meixell               |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert J. Osborn              |     |Member               |

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests award of the Purple Heat.

2.  The applicant states that he was wounded by shrapnel in his right hand
and fingers plus his leg and stomach around 15 March 1945 in Germany.
Their medic removed the shards of shrapnel and gave him a bunch of
bandaids, bandages, and antiseptic.  The medic said he would make a record
after he attended the sergeant.  For two weeks he kept taking small chips
of shrapnel out of his clothes.

3.  The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and
Report of Separation), pages 6 and 7 of a Compensation and Pension
Examination dated 28 September 2001, and a one-page extract from what
appears to be a history of the 50th Armored Infantry Battalion.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant’s military records are not  available  to  the  Board  for
review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’  records
at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed  that  the
applicant’s records were lost or destroyed in  that  fire.   However,  there
were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record for the  Board
to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

2.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 21 July 1944.  He arrived
in the European Theater of Operations on 8 January 1945.  He departed the
theater on 23 May 1945 (it may have been a medical evacuation; the
Compensation and Pension Examination document mentions a psychiatric report
dated 22 May 1945).  He was separated on 8 December 1945 with a certificate
of disability.

3.  The applicant's WD AGO Form 53-55 shows he was awarded the World War II
Victory Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the
Combat Infantryman Badge.  It shows he participated in two campaigns. Item
    6 (Organization) shows he was assigned to Company A, 50th Armored
Infantry Battalion, 6th Armored Division.  Item 34 (Wounds Received in
Action) contains the entry, "None."

4.  The Compensation and Pension Examination provided by the applicant
notes that he sustained a shrapnel injury to the right index finger at the
age of 26 and that, "This was not apparently noted in prior records."  The
Examination also notes that the applicant had some sort of back injury that
was documented in a psychiatric report dated 22 May 1945.
5.  The historical files of Company A, 50th Armored Infantry Battalion, 6th
Armored Division, 3d Army were reviewed at the National Archives in College
Park, MD but failed to show the applicant's entitlement to award of the
Purple Heart.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that the Army of Occupation Medal is
awarded for service of 30 consecutive days at a normal post of duty in a
qualifying location.  For Germany, service must have been between 9 May
1945 and 5 May 1955 and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
must have been awarded prior to 9 May 1945.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also
authorizes a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each
campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation and states that authorized
bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate campaign or service
medal including the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the award of the Bronze Star
Medal to any person who distinguished himself or herself by heroic or
meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial
flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.  It
also provides for award of the Bronze Star Medal to members of the armed
forces who, after 6 December 1941 and prior to 3 September 1945, have been
cited in orders or in a formal certificate for meritorious or exemplary
conduct in ground combat against the armed enemy.  A citation in orders for
the Combat Infantryman Badge or Medical Badge awarded in the field during
the period of actual combat against the armed enemy is considered as a
citation for exemplary conduct in ground combat.

9.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign
Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards received by units
serving during World War II.  This document shows that the 50th Armored
Infantry Battalion, 6th Armored Division was awarded occupation credit for
Germany for the period 2 May through 4 September 1945.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Regrettably, other than the Compensation and Pension Examination
provided by the applicant there is no evidence of record to show he was
wounded in action.  That Examination noted that a back injury had been
documented in a May 1945 report; however, it appears that May 1945 report
failed to note any shrapnel injuries.  Therefore, there is insufficient
evidence to show he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  Evidence shows that the applicant’s records contain administrative
errors which do not require action by the Board.  Therefore, administrative
correction of the applicant's records will be accomplished by the Case
Management Support Division (CMSD), St. Louis, Missouri, as outlined by the
Board in paragraph 2 of the BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section
below.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__fne___  __jtm___  __rjo___  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable
error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall
merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the
records of the individual concerned.

2.  The Board determined that administrative errors in the records of the
individual concerned should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board requests
that the CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the
individual concerned to amend his WD AGO Form 53-55 to add the Army of
Occupation Medal with Germany clasp and the Bronze Star Medal (based on
award of the Combat Infantryman Badge) and to show he is eligible to wear
two bronze service stars on the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal.




            ___Fred N. Eichorn____
                    CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040001972                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040001972                             |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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