IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  31 January 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110014710 


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 the Purple Heart and Prisoner of War (POW) Medal be added to his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States).

2.  The applicant states his DD Form 214 does not reflect this service.

3.  The applicant provides:

* Newspaper articles
* DD Form 214
* Honorable Discharge Certificate

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.  While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.
2.  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.  
  
3.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 7 March 1949.  He served as an infantryman in Korea and was honorably discharged on 20 November 1953.

4.  Item 27 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart or POW Medal as authorized awards.  Item 
29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of his DD Form 214 shows the entry "None."

5.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart or POW Medal in the available records.

6.  The Office of the Surgeon General Hospital List shows the applicant was hospitalized in Korea on 27 August 1953 for malnutrition and other conditions.  This form also states:

* No traumatism diagnosis on the trailer card
* No injury coded for this case
* he was a former prisoner of enemy

7.  The Korean casualty roster shows the applicant was returned to military control.  It does not show he was wounded in action.  

8.  He provided newspaper articles which indicate he was captured at a reservoir in North Korea and "His wounds were not treated by the Chinese." 

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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.



10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the POW Medal was authorized in November 1985 and is awarded to individuals who in past armed conflicts were taken prisoner or held captive after 5 April 1917.  The POW Medal is to be issued only to those U.S. military personnel and other personnel granted creditable U.S. military service who were taken prisoner and held captive:

* while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States
* while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force
* while serving with friendly forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party
* by foreign armed forces that are hostile to the United States, under circumstances which the Secretary concerned finds to have been comparable to those under which persons have generally been held captive by enemy armed forces during periods of armed conflict

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant requests correction of his DD Form 214 to show the Purple Heart.  In support of his claim, he provided newspaper articles which indicate "His wounds were not treated by the Chinese." 

2.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards.  The Purple Heart requires:

* a wound was the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by military medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
* official orders awarding the decoration

3.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records and the Korean casualty roster does not show he was wounded in action.  In the absence of orders or other corroborating evidence, the newspaper articles provided by the applicant alone are not sufficient as a basis for adding the Purple Heart to his DD Form 214.  

4.  Evidence shows he was a POW in Korea; therefore, his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show the POW Medal. 





BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

___x____  ____x___  ____x___  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for partial relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

   a.  awarding him the POW Medal; and
   
   b.  adding the POW Medal to item 27 of his DD Form 214.

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to award of the Purple Heart.  




      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20110014710





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110014710



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