RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:          22 March 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040002327


      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             |
|     |Ms. Rosa M. Chandler              |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Thomas D. Howard, Jr.         |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Robert J. Osborn, II          |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. James B. Gunlicks             |     |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 that his record be corrected to show award of
the Purple Heart (PH) and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).

2.  The applicant states that he served in Korea during the Korean War with
the 25th Infantry Division.  He adds that he saw combat and was wounded in
late August 1951.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation
from the Armed Forces of the United States) for the period 9 April 1951 to
25 May 1954.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 25 May 1954.  The application submitted in this case is
dated 19 May 2004.

2.  Title 10, U.S. Code, Section 1552(b), provides that applications for
correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery
of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law allows the Army
Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse failure to file
within the 3-year statute of limitation if the ABCMR determines that it
would be in the interest of justice to do so.  In this case, the ABCMR will
conduct a review of the merits of the case to determine if it would be in
the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.

3.  The applicant’s complete 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 a portion of the applicant’s records were lost or destroyed
in that fire.  However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a
reconstructed record, including the applicant's DD Form 230 (Service
Record), for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.

4.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army for 3 years on 9 April 1951.
 Upon enlistment, he was sent to the 43rd Company, 40th Battalion, 8319th
Army Unit, Hawaii Infantry Training Center, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  He
received his initial entry training from 5 May 1951 to 30 August 1951.
Upon completion of all required training, he was awarded military
occupational specialty (MOS) 4345 (Light Vehicle Driver).  He then sailed
from Honolulu, Hawaii to Yokohama, Japan during the period 31 August 1951
to 11 September 1951.

5.  Arriving in Japan on 11 September 1951, the applicant was quickly
reassigned to Korea.  He departed Yokohama on 14 September 1951 and arrived
at Inchon, Korea on 17 September 1951.  He was then assigned to the 25th
Infantry Division and further assigned to the Service Company, 27th
Infantry Regiment.

6.  The applicant performed duties associated with his MOS for Service
Company, 27th Infantry Regiment from 19 September 1951 to 9 October 1951
when he was released from assignment pending transfer to Camp Drake
Replacement Depot, Asaka, Japan.  On 13 October 1951, he departed Korea and
arrived at Tachikawa, Japan.  He was then transferred to Camp Drake.

7.  The applicant was identified for reassignment to the 536th
Transportation Company.  He departed Yokohama, Japan on 14 November 1951
and arrived at Inchon, Korea on 17 November 1951.  He remained in Korea
with the 536th Transportation Company until 10 February 1953 when he left
from Pusan, Korea and arrived at Sasebo, Japan on 11 February 1953.  He
departed Japan on 17 February 1953 and arrived at San Francisco, California
on 7 March 1953.

8.  The applicant served in various capacities at:  Camp Crowder, Missouri;
Camp Atterbury, Indiana; and Camp Carson, Colorado.  He was honorably
discharged from Camp Carson on 25 May 1954.  His DD Form 214 indicates that
he had 3 years of creditable active Federal service and 47 days of lost
time due to military confinement.  He received the Korean Service Medal,
United Nations Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal.  His DD
Form 214 states that he was not wounded in action.  It does not show that
he was awarded the Purple Heart or the Combat Infantryman Badge.

9.  The only document contained in the applicant's record that speaks to
any illness, injury, or wounding is his DA Form 20 (Qualification Record –
Enlisted Personnel).  That document indicates that he was a "patient" from
10 October 1951 to 21 November 1951, but does not state where or for what
reason.  This information is counter to the information contained in his DD
Form 230.

10.  The Korean War Casualty List is a compilation of all casualties during
the Korean War.  The applicant's name does not appear on this list.

11.  Army Regulation (AR) 600-8-22 (Military Awards) sets forth Department
of the Army criteria, policy and instructions concerning individual
military awards, service medals and service ribbons, combat and special
skill badges and tabs, unit decorations, and trophies and similar devices
awarded in recognition of accomplishments.  It provides, in pertinent part,
that:

      a.  The Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of
hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that:
(1) the wound was the result of hostile action; (2) the wound required
medical treatment; and (3) the medical treatment was made a matter of
official record.

      b.  The Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to Soldiers based on
compliance with three requirements.  The Soldier must be an infantryman
satisfactorily performing infantry duties, he must be assigned to an
infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground
combat, and he must actively participate in such ground combat.  Specific
requirements state, in effect, that an Army enlisted Soldier must be have
an infantry specialty, satisfactorily performed duty while assigned or
attached as a member of an infantry or ranger unit of brigade, regimental,
or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in active ground
combat.  A recipient must be personally present and under hostile fire
while serving in an assigned infantry or special forces primary duty, in a
unit actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy.

      c.  A bronze service star is authorized, 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 service
medal.  The applicant is authorized award of four bronze service stars to
be won on his Korean Service Medal to represent the campaigns in which he
participated from 18 September 1951 to 30 April 1953.

12.  As a matter of information, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of
the Korean War, the Government of the Republic of Korea issued the Korean
War Service Medal to pay tribute to eligible Korean War veterans for their
historic endeavors to preserve the freedom of the Republic of Korea and the
free world.  On 20 August 1999, the Department of Defense approved
acceptance and wear of this foreign award to eligible US veterans of the
Korean War, or their surviving next of kin.  The medal is provided at no
cost to the veterans.

13.  The Department of Defense has assigned responsibility to the
Department of the Air Force for distribution of the Korean War Service
Medal to eligible veterans or their surviving next of kin.  To apply,
veterans must provide a copy of their discharge paper (DD Form 214) to the
Awards and Decorations Section, Headquarters, Air Force Personnel Center,
550 C Street West, Suite 12, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas 78150-4714.  A
sample request form is being provided to the applicant.  Once the Korean
War Service Medal has been authorized by the Department of the Air Force,
the applicant may apply to the Army Board for Correction of Military
Records to add this foreign award to his DD Form 214.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant states he was wounded in Korea in late August 1951.  His
records indicate that he was in Honolulu until 31 August 1951 and did not
arrive in Korea until 17 September 1951.

2.  Army regulations provide that, in order to be awarded the Purple Heart,
a Soldier must have been wounded as a result of hostile action; the wound
must have required medical treatment; and the medical treatment must have
been made a matter of official record.  The preponderance of available
evidence does not support the applicant's request to be awarded the Purple
Heart.  Neither his DD Form 230, nor his DD Form 214, nor his DA Form 20
indicates that he was ever wounded.  His name does not appear on the Korean
War Casualty List.  Only one cryptic entry on his DA Form 20 makes
reference to the applicant having been a "patient" while at Camp Drake,
Japan.

3.  The applicant was a truck driver during the Korean War and served in a
Service Company and a Transportation Company.  The records do not show that
he was assigned as an infantryman to an infantry unit that engaged in
combat.  The applicant may have participated in combat.  All Soldiers are
provided basic combat skills training after they enter the Army.  This is
provided to insure that all Soldiers have the survival skills to perform
basic infantry missions when the need arises.  However, only combat
infantrymen are entitled to award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The
applicant has failed to establish a basis for award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge.

4.  The applicant is authorized award of four bronze service stars to be
worn on his Korean Service Medal to represent the campaigns in which he
participated from 17 September 1951 to 10 February 1953.

5.  Evidence shows that the applicant’s records contain administrative
error which does 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 3 of the BOARD
DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

6.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 25 May 1954; therefore, the time for
the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on
24 May 1957.  However, the applicant did not file within the 3-year statute
of limitations and has not provided a compelling explanation or evidence to
show that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse failure to
timely file in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__tdh___  __rjo___  __jbg___  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.  As a result, the Board further determined that there is no evidence
provided which shows that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse
the applicant's failure to timely file this application within the 3-year
statute of limitations prescribed by law.  Therefore, there is insufficient
basis to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing or for
correction of the records of the individual concerned.

3.  The Board determined that administrative error in the records of the
individual should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board requests that the
CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual
concerned to show award of four bronze service stars to be worn on the
applicant's Korean Service Medal.



                 Thomas D. Howard, Jr.
            ______________________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040002327                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050322                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |(DENY)                                  |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |107.0111                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


-----------------------
[pic]