BOARD DATE:	  30 May 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120019383 


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:

* the Purple Heart is missing from his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* in late December 1965 or early January 1966 while digging a foxhole for a defensive perimeter, his right knee/leg was wounded by a punji stake
* the medic treated his wound 
* he has a scar
* his superiors never took the time to ask how bad his injury was
* the first sergeant just said to take the stakes down 

3.  The applicant provides:

* DD Form 214 
* Correspondence from a Member of Congress

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice.  This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant's failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.  While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 23 November 1964 for a period of 3 years.  He served as a light weapons infantryman in Vietnam from 16 August 1965 to 15 August 1966.  On 22 November 1967, he was honorably released from active duty and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Reinforcement) to complete his remaining service obligation.  The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

3.  There is no evidence in the available records which shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.

4.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show entitlement to the Purple Heart and item 40 (Wounds) is blank.  His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty listing.

5.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards.  The Purple Heart requires evidence to verify:

* the wound was the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
2.  There is insufficient evidence in the available record that shows the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.  Regrettably, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding him a Purple Heart.

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.




      _______ _  x_______   ___
               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)                                         AR20120019383



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120019383



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