APPLICANT REQUESTS:  That he be awarded the Purple Heart for injuries received in Vietnam.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was wounded in the eyebrow by shrapnel while serving in Vietnam and never received his Purple Heart.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He enlisted in the Regular Army for 3 years on 8 December 1967 and served 1 year in Vietnam as a Field Artillery Crewman.  He was honorably separated at the expiration of his term of service on 7 December 1970 in pay grade E-5.

His awards include the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

The applicant’s enlisted qualification record contains no entries in the section entitled “wounds”, nor are there any documents elsewhere in his personnel record pertaining to wounds suffered in Vietnam.  Evidence also shows that there is no mention of medical treatment for shrapnel wounds in the medical record.

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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  Based on the available records, there is no evidence that he suffered a combat related injury that would qualify him for award of the Purple Heart.

2. In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy the aforementioned requirement

3.  In view of the foregoing, there appears to be no basis for granting the applicant’s request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

                       GRANT          

                       GRANT FORMAL HEARING

                       DENY APPLICATION




						Karl F. Schneider
						Acting Director