Korean War Purple Heart

January 19, 2006 9:56 AM

How can I find out if someone (living) received a Purple Heart award during the Korean War?

(aside from asking, of course).

posted by AmericnJewl to Grab Bag (2 answers total)

According to an AmVets website, there is no centralized list

Q. The government maintains a list of all PH recipients.
A. Not true. The only military medal list authorized/budgeted by Congress is Medal of Honor. The only service branch that maintains a "tape" of its PH recipients is the Marine Corps (due to the small size of the Corps). However, Marine Corps 'tapes' of PH recipients is neither required by Congress to be publicly accessible nor utilizable to confirm authorization or award eligibility.) Marine Corps 'tapes' are used solely for internal audit purposes. The Army, Air Forces, Navy and Coast Guard does not maintain a historic list of its PH recipients.

The form that would indicate if a person received a Purple Heart is the DD-214, the discharge form. This page has some contact information for awards information for the different branches of the armed forces, all of which award this medal separately. If you have a copy of the discharge form, you can fil out this form to get replacement recognition.
posted by jessamyn at 10:15 AM on January 19, 2006

From Military.com:

http://www.military.com/Resources/ResourceFileView?file=Ribbon-Resources.htm

Official DoD Awards Regulations, Instructions, or Manuals (All Services)

Detailed questions about awards in your branch of service? These are the official sources for all information regarding all awards.

Wikipedia talks a bit about it - it's entirely possible someone got one in the field and it wasn't recorded.

Possibly quickest: there seems to be a database here.
posted by phearlez at 10:15 AM on January 19, 2006