IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080007391 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests, in effect, correction to the records of her deceased former spouse, a former service member (FSM), to show he was awarded a second Purple Heart.  

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that the FSM's DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) should show two Purple Hearts instead of one.  She also states, in effect, that the FSM was wounded in the right leg by a gunshot wound and received shrapnel wounds to both legs, his head, and his arms.  She would like to add this information to the FSM's headstone at Arlington National Cemetery.

3.  In support of her application, the applicant provides copies of the FSM's DD Form 214; a Certificate of Military Service; the FSM's letter from the Veterans Administration; letters from the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri; a headstone preview for the FSM's headstone; and the FSM's death certificate.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The FSM'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 FSM’s records were destroyed in that fire.  However, there were sufficient documents remaining in a reconstructed record and documentation submitted by the applicant for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of this case.  
2.  The FSM's available records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army, in pay grade E-1, on 10 January 1949.  He completed training in military occupational specialty 4745, Light Weapons Infantryman.

3.  Item 28 (Most Significant Duty Assignment), of the FSM's DD Form 214, shows he was assigned to Company I, 17th Infantry Regiment.  This unit was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division.

4.  The FSM was honorably discharged from active duty, in the rank of corporal (temporary), on 17 June 1952, at the expiration of his term of service.

5.  Entries on the FSM's DD Form 214, Item 27 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) list the following awards:  the Combat Infantryman Badge; the Korean Service Medal, with five bronze service stars; and the Purple Heart.  Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) lists the following:  Shrapnel Wounds in Both Legs and Head and Arms, near Fuch Chong Reservoir, Korea, 25 April 1951.  Item 29 does not show he was wounded on any other dates.

6.  The FSM's available records contain a hospitalization file listing (page 039, microfiche 013), created by The Office of The Surgeon General and a hospital admission card for the year 1951 that shows while serving in Korea he sustained wounds to the ear, forearm, and lower extremity as a result of explosive projectile shells from gun mortar on 25 April 1951.  The hospital admission card does not show he was wounded or injured on any other dates during his period of service in Korea.

7.  The applicant provides documentation for the Veterans Administrative that shows the FSM was awarded service-connection compensation for scars to his right leg, residuals of gunshot wound, and a nervous condition in 1952.  In November 2007, the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, advised the Office of Veterans Affairs, Country of Gloucester, Woodbury, New Jersey, in effect, that the records needed to answer their inquiry were not in the files as a fire destroyed the major portion of records of Army military personnel for the period 1912 through 1959.  The letter also advised, in effect, that awards earned by FSMs could be issued to their next of kin in the event the FSM was deceased.  

8.  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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, also provides that a Purple Heart is authorized for the first wound suffered under the above conditions, but for each subsequent award an Oak Leaf Cluster will be awarded.  Not more than one award will be made for more than one wound or injury received at the same instant or from the same missile, force, explosion, or agent.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The FSM is not entitled to a second award of the Purple Heart, for wounds he sustained in Korea on 25 April 1951.  This incident does not meet the criteria for additional awards of the Purple Heart as specified in Army Regulation 600-8-22.  

2.  The evidence shows the FSM sustained multiple wounds to the ear, forearm, and lower extremities on 25 April 1951 for which he was awarded the Purple Heart.  All of his wounds and injuries were recognized as having been sustained at the same instant and as a result the FSM was awarded one Purple Heart.  This Purple Heart is shown on the FSM's DD Form 214.

3.  The available service records provide no evidence the FSM ever sustained or was treated for wounds inflicted as a result of enemy action on more than one occasion or that he was eligible for award of a second Purple Heart (an Oak Leaf Cluster to be affixed to his already-awarded Purple Heart).  Based on the foregoing, the FSM is not entitled to award of a second Purple Heart.  

4.  Careful consideration was given to the documentation provided by the applicant.  However, given the lack of any corroborating evidence of record from other independent sources, these documents alone are not sufficient to meet the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support the award of the Purple Heart. 

5.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____x___  ___x____  ____x___  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.



      _________x______________
                CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080007391



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1


ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080007391


4


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1