RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:          30 August 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040011732


      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             |
|     |Mr. Jessie B. Strickland          |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Paul M. Smith                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Yolanda Maldonado             |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Leonard G. Hassell            |     |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 the award of the Purple Heart be added to
his report of separation (DD Form 214).

2.  The applicant states that he was issued a Purple Heart; however, it is
not reflected on his DD Form 214.

3.  The applicant provides no additional documents with his application.

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.  He was born on 25 January 1932 and enlisted in the Regular Army at
Corpus Christi, Texas, on 9 August 1949 for a period of 3 years.  He
completed his training and was awarded the military occupational specialty
of 4602 (Self-Propelled Gun Carriage or Prime Mover Driver).  He served 1
year, 2 months and 13 days of foreign service and was advanced to the rank
of private first class on 25 August 1951.

3.  On 23 September 1952, he was honorably discharged at Fort Bliss, Texas,
due to the expiration of his term of service.  His DD Form 214, issued at
the time of his discharge shows that he was awarded the Korean Service
Medal with two bronze service stars.  His DD Form 214 also shows in item
29, under “Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces” the
entry “None.”  The applicant authenticated the DD Form 214 with his
signature at the time of his discharge.

4.  His records do show however that he was awarded the National Defense
Service Medal (NDSM), the Good Conduct Medal (GCMDL) and the United Nations
Service Medal (UNSM) that were not included on his DD Form 214 at the time
of his discharge.  Additionally, the applicant’s name does not appear on
the Korean War Casualty Listing.

5.  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 a
result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a
medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of
official record.

6.  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 Korea
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 service award to eligible US Veterans
of the Korean War, or their surviving next of kin.  The medal is provided
at no cost to veterans.

7.  The Department of Defense 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 submit 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 with his copy of these proceedings.  Once
the Korean War Service Medal has been authorized by the Department of the
Air Force, the applicant may apply to this Board to add this foreign award
to his DD Form 214.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s contention that he was awarded the Purple Heart has
been noted.  However, he has failed to provide supporting evidence to
support his contention and the available records contain no evidence to
show that he was awarded the Purple Heart, that he was wounded as a result
of enemy action or that treatment for such a wound was made a matter of
record.

2.  Therefore, lacking such evidence, there appears to be no basis to add
the award of the Purple Heart to his records at this time.

3.  However, the evidence of record does show that he was awarded the NDSM,
the GCMDL and the UNSM and thus is entitled to have those awards added to
his DD Form 214 at this time.

4.  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 2 of the BOARD
DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__pms___  __ym____  __lgh___  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 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 he was awarded the NDSM, the GCMDL and the UNSM.



                 Paul M. Smith
            ______________________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040011732                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050830                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |(PARTIAL GRANT)                         |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES                  |61/PH                                   |
|1.107.0015              |                                        |
|2.107.0056              |102/GCMDL                               |
|3.107.0069              |115/NDSM                                |
|4.107.0085              |131/UNSM                                |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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