BOARD DATE:	  27 October 2015

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20150004526 


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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) to show two awards of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was wounded in action in Korea in two separate incidents.  He received a head wound and shrapnel wounds.  He earned the awards and they should be on his DD Form 214.  The omission of the award(s) affects his entitlement to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits. 

3.  The applicant provides:

* Congressional correspondence
* DD Form 214
* Honorable Discharge Certificate
* Certification of Military Service
* Background information on the Battle of Taejon, Korea
* National Archives Database Printout
* Korean War Casualty File
* Standard Form 88 (Report of Medical Examination)
* Standard Form 504 (Clinical Record-History)
* Partial WD AGO Form 8-34 (Clinical Record Brief)
* Partial Medical Form
* Back page of DA Form 20 (Soldier Qualification Record)
* Western Union Telegram
* General Orders (GO) Number 19, award of the Purple Heart
* 2007 VA evaluation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
* 1953 VA rating decision 

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Title 10, U.S. Code (USC), 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 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 complete 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 his 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's DD Form 214 shows he enlisted in the Regular Army on 30 December 1948.  This form also shows at the time of his separation, he held military occupational specialty 4812 (Heavy Machine Gunner) and his most significant duty assignment (i.e., his last duty assignment) was with the Battery B, 79th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Gun Battalion.

4.  He was honorably discharged from active service on 7 January 1952.  His DD Form 214 shows he completed 3 years of creditable active military service (after having been extended for 1 year), including 2 years, 4 months, and 21 days of foreign service, and he had 9 days of lost time.  His DD Form 214 also shows in:

	a.  Item 27 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan), Combat Infantryman Badge, Distinguished Unit Emblem, Distinguished Unit Emblem (Korea), and Korean Service Medal with 3 bronze service stars.

	b.  Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) the entry "None."

5.  He provides: 

	a.  Background information on the Battle of Taejon, Korea.  This document details an early battle in Korea when North Korean troops were pushing into South Korea.  It also shows the 24th Infantry Division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation. 

	b.  National Archives Database Printout, printed on 17 February 2015, and shows he was a casualty in Korea on 21 July 1950.

	c.  Korean War Casualty File for the period 13 February 1950 through 31 December 1953.  It shows he was seriously wounded in action by a missile on 21 July 1950.  It also shows he held a heavy weapons infantryman specialty (4812) and he was assigned to the 19th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division. 

	d.  Standard Form 88 (Report of Medical Examination) that shows he underwent a separation physical on 4 January 1952.  His unit is listed as Battery B, 79th AAA Gun Battalion.  The report shows he had a 2-inch scar to the right forehead and shrapnel wounds to the left buttock. 

	e.  Standard Form 504 (Clinical Record-History) that shows he served in Korea from May 1950 to August 1951.  He had several minor wounds.  His entire time was served in the infantry, as a machine gunner.  He had a superficial wound to the forehead in July 1950 for which he was hospitalized for 4-5 days. 

	f.  Partial WD AGO Form 8-34 (Clinical Record Brief) that lists no name or identifying marks.  It shows the entry "Impression, gunshot wound and right forehead accidentally incurred as mentioned above while in combat.  Wounds were dressed; the wound is clean without evidence of infection.  A Vaseline gauze dressing was reapplied." 

	g.  Partial Medical Form that shows a diagnosis of "wound, missile, scalp, right forehead, wounded in action on 21 July 1950, Taejon, Korea" and the entry "3 August 1950, suture of wound, head or neck, forehead, right side; anesthesia local procaine."  A third entry reads "Purple Heart awarded per GO Number 19, Tokyo Army Hospital, dated 29 July 1950." 

	h.  Back page of DA Form 20 (Soldier Qualification Record) listing the same awards listed on his DD Form 214, in addition to his campaigns in Korea. 

	i.  Western Union Telegram, dated 31 July 1950, which shows the Secretary of the Army notified his next of kin that he was slightly wounded in action in Korea on 21 July 1950. 

	j.  GO Number 19, issued by General Headquarters, Far East Command, Medical Section, Tokyo General Hospital, on 1 August 1950, awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 21 July 1950, as a direct result of an act of an enemy of the United States.

	k.  2007 VA evaluation for PTSD.  He underwent an examination/initial evaluation on 4 November 2007 and informed the examiner he was in Korea, had been wounded three times, and should have had three Purple Hearts.  It also shows the entry "there is a letter in the record, dated 1 August 2005, indicating his receipt of the Purple Heart."

	l.  1953 VA rating decision, dated 10 September 1953.  It shows the [service-connection] award was made for scars, right forehead, and shrapnel fragment wound to left buttock. 

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides Department of the Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning military awards, decorations, medals and ribbons.  It states:

	a.  The Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify 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.  For each succeeding act or period of meritorious service or achievement that justifies the award of a decoration, an oak leaf cluster or numeral device will be awarded. 

	b.  The National Defense Service Medal is awarded for honorable active service for any period between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954, both dates inclusive.

	c.  The Republic of Korea War Service Medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in Korea and adjacent waters between 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953.  The service must have been performed, in part, while on permanent assignment for 30 consecutive days or on temporary duty for
30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days within the territorial limits of Korea or the waters immediately adjacent thereto.


	d.  The United Nations Service Medal is awarded to members of the Armed Forces of the United States dispatched to Korea or adjacent areas on behalf of the United Nations during the period between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954.  Personnel awarded the Korean Service Medal automatically establish eligibility for the United Nations Service Medal.

7.  The Office of the Surgeon General files (commonly referred to as the SGO files), a health record research project, involved transposing hospital admission card data from the periods of World War II and the Korean Conflict onto magnetic tape.  In 1988, the National Research Council made these tape files available to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC).  It was widely believed that these tapes would become a valuable substitute for the records lost in the NPRC fire of 1973.  The best available estimation of the completeness of this project is that it captured at least 95 percent of all combat casualty hospital admissions.

8.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-1 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) assists commanders and personnel officers in determining or establishing the eligibility of individual members for campaign participation credit, assault landing, unit citation emblems, and occupation duty credit for World War II and for the Korean War.  This pamphlet shows the 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for service from 2 July to 15 September 1950, by DAGO Number 45, dated 1950.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is substantial evidence that confirms the applicant was wounded in action on 21 July 1950 when he sustained wounds to the buttocks and the forehead and was awarded the Purple Heart.  This award is not listed on his    DD Form 214. 

2.  He was wounded in Taejon, Korea, on 21 July 1950.  Item 29 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of his DD Form 214 inadvertently shows the entry "None."  

3.  There is no evidence he sustained a second separate wound on 21 July 1950 or additional wounds on any other date during his service in Korea.  All the evidence he provides supports one injury on 21 July 1950.  None supports a second injury.  He does not meet the criteria for a second (or third) award of a Purple Heart.

4.  He served a qualifying period of service and meets the criteria for award of the National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal which are not shown on his DD Form 214.

5.  His unit in Korea was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation during his assignment to that unit.  This unit award is not listed on his DD Form 214.

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:

* adding to item 27 of his DD Form 214 the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Republic of Korea War Service Medal, and Meritorious Unit Commendation
* adding to item 29 of his DD Form 214 the entry "Taejon, Korea, on 21 July 1950"

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 a additional awards 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)                                         AR20150004526



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20150004526



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