2.  The applicant requests that his DD Form 214, Report of Transfer or Discharge, be corrected to reflect that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  He states, in effect, that he was wounded in Vietnam in November 1971, but the Purple Heart was not reflected on his DD Form 214.

4.  His military records show that he initially enlisted in the Regular Army on 4 February 1953 and through a series of immediate reenlistments remained on active duty until he retired in February 1973 in pay grade E-6, with over 20 years of service.  During his career, he served two tours in Vietnam as a light weapons infantryman, the first from 23 October 1967 to 14 October 1968 and the second from 14 December 1970 to 22 November 1971.

5.  His DD Form 214 shows that he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  The applicant’s enlisted qualification record contains no entry under the section for wounds suffered in combat.  However, the record of assignments section contains an entry made on 10 November 1971 indicating that he was evacuated from the 1st Cavalry Division (where he was an infantry squad leader) to the Army hospital in the Ryukyu Islands, then further evacuated to the military hospital at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  The personnel record does not show the reason for the evacuation.  His medical records, which inexplicably contain no entries after 4 November 1971 or before his separation physical examination on 11 August 1972, provide no information on the reason for evacuation either.  However, the retirement physical examination noted that he had multiple shrapnel wound scars to the right ankle, left thigh, right shoulder, left forearm, left buttock and a surgical scar on the right ankle.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

8.  The same regulation provides that it is not intended that such a strict interpretation be taken of the requirement for the wound or injury to be caused by direct result of hostile action that it would preclude the award being made to deserving personnel.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Based on the evidence of record, it appears that the applicant was wounded in Vietnam and should have been awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  While the medical records do not make clear that his wounds were the result of hostile action, collateral documentation shows that he was, at the time of his evacuation, a squad leader with an infantry unit involved in combat operations and evacuated from the combat area for the treatment of wounds, which were subsequently identified as resulting from shrapnel.

3.  Therefore, in keeping with the spirit of the regulation, the evidence tends to indicate that he is entitled to the Purple Heart.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in Vietnam.



BOARD VOTE:  

                       GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

                       GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                       DENY APPLICATION




		                           
						    CHAIRPERSON