BOARD DATE: 4 September 2014 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140000815 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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart. 2. He states his previously missing medical records prove the action-related injury for award of the Purple Heart and benefits. 3. He provides: * his DD Form 214 * 28 pages of his medical records * a memorandum from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) 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's records show he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 23 January 1968. 3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in: a. item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam from 4 January 1969 to on or about 3 January 1970; b. item 38 (Record of Assignments) he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division from 12 January to 29 December 1969; c. item 40 (Wounds) is blank; and d. item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not list award of the Purple Heart. 4. He submitted 28 pages of his mostly illegible medical records, which show he was treated for orbital cellulitis on 7 February 1969 which resulted from being struck by bamboo on 1 February 1969, after being seeing at the local clinic for an eyebrow wound a week prior. 5. On 2 January 1970, he was released from active duty. He had completed 1 year, 11 months, and 10 days of active service. His DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Medical Badge, Air Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), and two Overseas Service Bars. 6. He submitted a memorandum from the VA, dated 11 December 1975, which stated that after reviewing his claim for compensation based on a disability resulting from a left eye and eyebrow condition, no available records showed that he received treatment during his period of service. 7. Review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant as a casualty. 8. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant. 9. There are no medical records in his official military personnel file that show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. 10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides the Army's awards policy. It states the Purple Heart is awarded to members wounded in action and states that in order to award the Purple Heart, there must be evidence the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by military medical personnel, and a record of the medical treatment was made a matter of official record. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: 1. The applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart has been carefully considered and it was determined that there is insufficient evidence to support his request. 2. There is no corroborating evidence of record which shows he was injured or wounded as a result of enemy action, that the wound required medical treatment, and the treatment was made a matter of official record. The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing or in ADCARS. There is no evidence in his service personnel records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds. 3. The medical records that the applicant provided are mostly illegible and state that he sustained and was treated for an injury to his left eye and eyebrow due to orbital cellulitis on 7 February 1969. However, his records do not state this wound was the result of enemy combat. 4. In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief. 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) AR20140000815 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140000815 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1