PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:          11 September 2003
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2002082720

	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
| Mrs. Carolyn Wade | | Analyst

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

| Mr. Stanley Kelley | | Chairperson
| Mr. Christopher J. Prosser | | Member
| Mr. John T. Meixell | | 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 award of the Purple Heart (PH) and the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded in the right eye and was treated at a field hospital in February or March 1967.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 13 July 1967 for a period of 2 years.  Following completion of all required military training, he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B, Light Weapons Infantryman.

5.  The applicant's first permanent duty assignment was in Vietnam.  He arrived there on/about 12 December 1967 and was assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division.

6.  The applicant served in Vietnam from 12 December 1967 to on/about 29 February 1968 when he was transferred to the Medical Holding Detachment, US Army Medical Center, Ryukyu Islands, Okinawa, Japan.  The reason for this transfer is not in the records and it is noted that his medical records were permanently transferred from the Army to the Veterans Administration Regional Office, Brooklyn, New York, on 11 July 1969.

7.  The applicant did not return to Vietnam.  He was reassigned to Korea on 28 March 1968.  On 9 May 1968, he accepted nonjudicial punishment (NJP) under Article 15, Uniform Code of Military Justice, for stealing $30 worth of military pay certificates from a fellow soldier and for assaulting a second soldier by kicking him in the head.

8.  In January 1969, the applicant was reassigned to Fort Hood, Texas.  On 11 July 1969, he was released from active duty and transferred to the United States Army Reserve.  He was credited with 1 year, 11 months, and 29 days of active Federal service.  His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) lists his awards and decorations as:  the National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Sharpshooter Badge (Rifle), 2nd Class Gunner (M-60 MG) and Marksman Badge (Pistol).

9.  The Vietnam Casualty List does not identify the applicant as having been wounded in action in Vietnam.

10.  The historical files of Companies B, D, and E, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, located at NARA (National Archives and Records Administration), College Park, Maryland, failed to identify the applicant as being entitled to the award of the PH.

11.  There are no orders in the applicant’s service personnel records which show that he was awarded the PH.  Item 40 (Wounds) on the applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.

12.  AR 600-8-22 (Military Awards) sets forth Department of the Army criteria, policy and instructions concerning individual military awards, the Good Conduct Medal, service medals and service ribbons, combat and special skill badges and tabs, unit decorations, and trophies and similar devices awarded in recognition of accomplishments.  It provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart (PH) is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that:  (1) the wound was the result of hostile action; (2) the wound required medical treatment; and (3) the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

13.  AR 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer personnel who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The Awards Branch of the Total Army Personnel Command has advised, in similar cases, that during the Vietnam era the CIB was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11F, 11G, or 11H.

14.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards received by units serving in Vietnam.  Department of the Army General Orders (DAGO) 8, dated 1974, announced award of the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm for Headquarters, United States Military Assistance Command and its subordinate units during the period 8 February 1962 to 28 March 1973, and to Headquarters, United States Army Vietnam and its subordinate units during the period 20 July 1965 to 28 March 1973.  This document shows the unit to which the applicant was assigned was cited for award of the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation for the period 1 January 1969 to 1 February 1970 by Department of the Army General Order Number 42, dated 1972.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's entitlement to award of the PH cannot be verified.  Although it is clear the applicant was a patient during the month of March 1968, the evidence of record does not reflect why he was hospitalized.  Furthermore, there is no entry in Item 40 of his DA Form 20 stating he was wounded in combat and his name is not listed on the United States Army Vietnam Casualty List.  Additionally, staff of the Board searched the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland, for historical records of the applicant's Vietnam unit.  No evidence could be found to show the applicant's entitlement to the PH.

2.  The applicant was an infantryman in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment from mid December 1967 through February 1968.  From his initial assignment to 21 January 1968, the applicant's unit participated in Operation Pershing.  Then in late January 1968, the enemy launched the Tet Offensive, a major effort to overrun South Vietnam.  Some 7,000 enemy, primarily well equipped, North Vietnam Army regulars blasted their way into the imperial city of Hue and Quang Tri, the capital of Vietnam's northern most province.  The applicant's unit was committed and by 1 February 1968, Quang Tri was liberated, followed by Hue.  The Board accepts that the applicant must have served in active ground combat during this period and is, therefore, entitled to award of the CIB.

3.  Based on Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3, the Board accepts that the applicant is entitled to award of the Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by issuing to the individual concerned a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214) correcting Item 24 to show award of the CIB, Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__sk____  __cjp___  __jtm___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Stanley Kelley
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID | AR2002082720
SUFFIX |
RECON |
DATE BOARDED | 20030911
TYPE OF DISCHARGE |
DATE OF DISCHARGE |
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY |
DISCHARGE REASON |
BOARD DECISION | (GRANT)
REVIEW AUTHORITY |
ISSUES         1. | 107.0015
2. | 107.0111
3. |
4. |
5. |
6. |