PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            11 April 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001065605

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Mr. Elzey J. Arledge, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Richard T. Dunbar		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
            records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests, in effect, that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his records do not reflect a stab wound he received in Vietnam, for which he should have been awarded a Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in Detroit, Michigan on 15 January 1965, for a period of 3 years and training as a supply specialist.  

5.  On 7 July 1966, he was transferred to Vietnam with his unit, the 551st Light Maintenance Company.  He was advanced to the pay grade of E-4 on 19 May 1967.

6.  On 1 July 1967, the applicant was involved in a fight with a Vietnamese citizen in Bien Hoa, Republic of Vietnam, and was stabbed in the right calf.  He was initially treated at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital and was subsequently transferred to the 6th Convalescent Center on 9 July 1967.  There is no indication in the available records to show that a line of duty determination was made in his case.

7.  He departed Vietnam on 18 October 1967, for Oakland Army Base, California, and was honorably released from active duty on 19 October 1967, as an overseas returnee serving in the pay grade of E-3.  He had served 2 years, 9 months and 5 days of total active service and his report of separation           (DD Form 214) shows that he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

8.  A review of his records fails to show that his injury was ever classified as a wound incurred in combat or that he was ever awarded the Purple Heart.

9.  On 20 November 2001, the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, authorized the issuance of an Army Good Conduct Medal (AGCM) to the applicant.  However, there is no indication in the available records to show that the AGCM was ever entered on his DD Form 214.

10.  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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record fails to clearly show that the applicant was wounded/injured as a result of enemy action.  While the evidence shows that his wounds/injuries were treated by medical personnel and made a matter of official record, all indications are that he was stabbed while engaged in an altercation downtown.  Accordingly, he does not meet the criteria to be awarded the Purple Heart.   

2.  However, the applicant was awarded the AGCM and is entitled to have that award annotated on his DD Form 214.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the AGCM.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

___rtd___  ___mkp _  ___eja __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___Margaret K. Patterson___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001065605	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/04/11	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT PARTIAL	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  102	107.0056/AGCM	
2.  61	107.0015/PH	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.