RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 8 March 2007
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20060012843
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.
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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 should have been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds and frostbite received in Korea in 1951.
3. The applicant provides an illegible copy of a Western Union Telegram.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicants 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 applicants 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 born on 21 February 1929 and enlisted on 30 August 1948 for a period of 3 years. He completed his training and it appears that he was transferred to Japan and subsequently to Korea.
3. A review of the Korean War Casualty Listing shows on line #48693, that the applicant, while serving in the rank of sergeant first class, was reported as a casualty in the South Korea sector on 25 April 1951. He was treated for his injuries and was subsequently returned to duty.
4. He was promoted to the rank of master sergeant on 12 June 1951 and on 7 May 1953, he was honorably discharged at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He had served 4 years, 8 months and 8 days of total active service and his report of separation (DD Form 214) shows that he was awarded the Army Occupation Medal with Japan clasp, the Bronze Star Medal, the Distinguished Unit Emblem, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal with five bronze service stars and the United Nations Service Medal.
5. In item 29 of his DD Form 214, under Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces, is the entry none.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
7. Army Regulation 600-45 (Decorations), which governed the award of Army decorations until 23 August 1951, stated that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy. An element pertains to weather and the award of this decoration to personnel who were severely frostbitten while actually engaged in combat is authorized.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) as amended provides that the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is awarded for honorable active service for any period between 27 July 1950 through 27 July 1954, 1 January 1961 through 14 August 1974, 2 August 1990 through 30 November 1995 and 11 September 2001 to a date to be determined. This regulation also provides that the second and subsequent awards of the National Defense Service Medal are denoted by a bronze service star affixed to the National Defense Service Medal.
9. The Government of the Republic of Korea issued the Korean War Service Medal (ROK-KWSM) 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. The Department of Defense approved acceptance and wear of the ROK-KWSM. To qualify for award of the ROK-KWSM, the veteran must have served between 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953 and been on permanent assignment for 30 consecutive days, or on temporary duty for 60 non-consecutive days, within the territorial limits of Korea, in the waters immediately adjacent thereto, or in aerial flight over Korea participating in actual combat operations or in support of combat operations.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the Board cannot determine with any degree of certainty what the applicants injuries were at the time, the information contained on the Korean War Casualty Listing confirms the applicants assertion that he was injured in action in Korea and should have been awarded the Purple Heart.
2. Accordingly, it would be in the interest of justice to award him the Purple Heart at this time for wounds received in action against the enemy in Korea on 25 April 1951, while serving in the rank of sergeant first class.
3. The evidence of record also establishes that the applicant is entitled to be awarded the NDSM and the ROK-KWSM. Accordingly, he should be awarded those awards at this time as well.
BOARD VOTE:
__x__ ___x __ __x __ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by awarding him the NDSM, the ROK-KWSM and the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in Korea on 25 April 1951, while serving as a sergeant first class.
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CHAIRPERSON
INDEX
CASE ID
AR20060012843
SUFFIX
RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
20070308
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)
DATE OF DISCHARGE
YYYYMMDD
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
AR . . . . .
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION
(GRANT PLUS)
REVIEW AUTHORITY
ISSUES 1. 107.0015
61/PH
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6.
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