IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 15 SEPTEMBER 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090001258
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 reconsideration of an earlier request that his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) be corrected to include award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in part, he was admitted to the 395th Station Hospital in Japan for a perforated eardrum and membrane. He continues that he stayed in the hospital for 6 weeks where he received radiation treatment. He was admitted to the Tokyo Army Hospital in July 1951 for the same problem. The applicant adds that there are no records or morning reports of him going to sick call, the hospitals he was sent to, the patrols he went on and of him helping the wounded, or records of his squad being cut off behind enemy lines for 2 days. The applicant further adds that he held the military occupational specialty (MOS) "General Clerk" for the last 8 months in service and he prefers to believe his MOS was laying mines in rice paddies and river beds and going up a hill on his belly to kill the enemy.
3. The applicant provides a letter from the 38th Infantry Regiment and a WD AGO Form 8-33 (Clinical Record Brief) in support of this application.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20080006522 on 15 October 2008.
2. The applicant's military records are not available for review. A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service member's records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973. It is believed that his records were lost or destroyed in that fire. However, there are sufficient documents available to conduct a fair and impartial review of this specific request.
3. The applicant provides a 38th Infantry Regiment letter and a WD AGO
Form 8-33 which were not previously reviewed by the ABCMR; therefore, these documents are new evidence and as such warrant consideration by the Board.
4. The applicant's DD Form 214 shows that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 5 October 1949 for 3 years and was honorably discharged on 16 October 1952 after completing 3 years and 12 days of creditable active service.
5. Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Hostile Action with Enemy Forces) shows the entry "None."
6. The applicant's name is not listed on the Korean War Casualty Roster as being wounded as a result of hostile action.
7. There are no orders or any other documentation which would indicate the applicant was awarded or recommended for award of the Purple Heart.
8. The applicant provides a certificate from Headquarters, 38th Infantry Regiment, dated 14 February 1951. This document certified that a number of records pertaining to the applicant were lost and/or destroyed as a result of enemy action on 4 December 1950 and that the applicant became a casualty and was evacuated before temporary records could be constructed. This document also certified that the applicant was reported as an "NBC" [non-battle casualty] on 9 December 1950 on Casualty Report Number "UNK" [unknown] and evacuated to hospital "unknown." A WD AGO Form 8-33 shows he was admitted to the 118th Station Hospital for further evacuation.
9. The WD AGO Form 8-33, prepared at the 395th Station Hospital in Nagoya, Japan, indicates the applicant was diagnosed with chronic suppurative otitis media of his left ear, organism undetermined. The entry on this form that pertains to the Purple Heart is blank.
10. 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart for wounds received as a result of hostile action.
2. There are no orders or any other documentation available showing that the applicant was awarded or recommended for award of the Purple Heart. The applicant's name is not listed on the Korean War Casualty Roster.
3. The additional documents provided by the applicant which show he was treated for an ear infection failed to substantiate that he was wounded as a result of hostile action.
4. While the sincerity of the applicant's claim that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heat is not in doubt, there simply is no evidence in the available records to support his claim. Therefore, in the absence of evidence to show otherwise, it must be presumed that what the Army did at the time was correct and he is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart. Accordingly, there appears to be no basis to award the applicant the Purple Heart at this time.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___X_____ ____X____ ___X_____ 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20080006522, dated 15 October 2008.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our
Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
__________XXX_______________
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.
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