IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	        16 October 2008

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080010407


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states while in Vietnam he was injured in the forehead and received stitches above his left eye, but he did not receive a Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant provides:

	a.  A letter, dated 25 January 2008, from a comrade-in-arms saying he remembers the applicant received a head injury around September 1967.

	b.  DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).

	c.  Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Rating Decision, dated 9 April 2008.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant served in the Army of the United States from 12 September 1966 through 11 September 1968.  He served in Vietnam in military occupational specialty (MOS) 57E (Laundry, Bath & Impregnation Specialist) with the 59th Field Service Company from on/about 3 March 1967 to on/about 29 February 1968.

2.  There are no orders in the applicant's records awarding him the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in Item 40 (Wounds) no wounds, and Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster as having been wounded in action in Vietnam.

5.  The applicant's medical records were not available for review with this case.

6.  During the processing of this case, a member of the Board staff reviewed the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command (HRC), which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973.  This review failed to reveal any Purple Heart orders on file for the applicant.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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.  The regulation also provides that there is no statute of limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

8.  The applicant provided a 2008 DVA Rating Decision that awarded service connection for "scar, residuals laceration, left eyebrow" rate at 0% disability.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart.

2.  There are no orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart, there are no medical records documenting a wounding, his DA Form 20 does not document a wounding or award of a Purple Heart, his name is not on the Vietnam Casualty List, and there are no orders in ADCARS awarding him the Purple Heart.

3.  The DVA decision awarding service connection with a zero disability rating for an eyebrow scar does not establish entitlement to award of the Purple Heart.

4.  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 this requirement.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__X_____  __X_____  __X_____  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.


																XXX
      _________________________
                 CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.


ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080010407





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080010407



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