RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 28 June 2007
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060010394
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.
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 he be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he believes that he should have been awarded a Purple Heart for the impaired hearing he incurred during World War II. He states that he was awarded a 50 percent disability rating for hearing loss and a 10 percent disability rating for tinnitus. In addition, he was awarded Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) for his hearing loss and tinnitus.
3. The applicant provides his WD AGO Form 53, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge, his CRSC approval dated 8 July 2006, and his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 31 July 1946. He served in the Pacific Theater of Operations as a light mortar noncommissioned officer and was promoted to corporal.
2. The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 17 November 1947. The WD AGO Form 53 he was issued shows that he was awarded the World War II Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal with Japan Clasp. Item 32 of this form, Battles and Campaigns, has None entered. Item 34 of this form, Wounds Received in Action, has None entered.
3. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides 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.
4. CRSC, as established by Section 1413a, Title 10, United States Code, as amended, provides for the payment of the amount of money a military retiree would receive from the VA for combat related disabilities if it wasnt for the statutory prohibition for a military retiree to receive a VA disability pension. Payment is made by the Military Department, not the VA, and is tax free. Eligible members are those retirees who have 20 years of service for retired pay computation (or 20 years of service creditable for reserve retirement at age 60) and who have disabilities that are the direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous military duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war. Such disabilities must be compensated by the VA and rated at least 10% disabling. For periods before 1 January 2004 (the date this statute was amended), members had to have disabilities for which they have been awarded the Purple Heart and are rated at least 10% disabled or who are rated at least 60% disabled as a direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war. Military retirees who are approved for CRSC must have waived a portion of their military retired pay since CRSC consists of the Military Department returning a portion of the waived retired pay to the military retiree.
5. Title 38, United States Code, permits the VA to award compensation for disabilities which were incurred in or aggravated by active military service.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant has not submitted any documentation which shows that his hearing loss was caused by a wound which was the result of hostile action, the requirement for a Purple Heart.
2. The applicants records do not show that he was wounded.
3. The VA awards disabilities when it is shown that a disability was incurred or aggravated by active military service. As such, the award of a disability rating does not imply that the disability was incurred as a result of hostile action.
4. CRSC is awarded to military retirees who have disabilities that are the direct result of armed conflict, specially hazardous military duty, training exercises that simulate war, or caused by an instrumentality of war. As such, the award of a CRSC rating does not imply that the disability was incurred as a result of hostile action.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___jtm___ ____dac_ ___wfc__ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
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.
___________John T. Meixell________
CHAIRPERSON
INDEX
CASE ID
AR20060010394
SUFFIX
RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
20070628
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)
DATE OF DISCHARGE
YYYYMMDD
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
AR . . . . .
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION
DENY
REVIEW AUTHORITY
ISSUES 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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