APPLICANT REQUESTS: Correction of his military records to reflect award of the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman Badge.
APPLICANT STATES: He was a member of an infantryman rifle team while in Southwest Asia. On 27 February 1991, while clearing houses in an urban environment he was thrown off a roof by one of the soldiers of Iraq. He states he never received his Purple Heart or his Combat Infantryman Badge.
EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant's military records show:
He was a member of the USAR when he was called to active duty on 14 January 1991 in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. He arrived in Southwest Asia on 21 January 1991 and was assigned as an infantryman.
According to information contained in his copies of his service medical records, on 27 February 1991, the applicant sustained an injury to his lower back, right shoulder and left knee when he was pushed from a building by an enemy POW while on active duty status in Saudi Arabia.... The applicant was treated at the 312th Medical Evacuation Hospital in Saudi Arabia. He returned to the United States 29 April 1991 and on 14 May 1991 was released from active duty.
The applicant returned to active duty on 16 June 1991 and deployed to Southwest Asia with the 88th Supply and Support Battalion from 22 June 1991 until 24 September 1991. He was released from active duty on 10 October 1991.
In a December 1996 letter the applicant was requested to provided additional information to clarify the condition under which his injury was sustained. The letter notified him that there was conflicting information between his account of the action which resulted in his injury and that which was contained in official records. The applicant did not respond to the request for additional information.
There are basically three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge. The soldier must be an infantryman (11 series specialty), assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must have actively participated in such ground combat.
Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION: Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:
1. Although the applicant may have been an infantryman assigned to an infantry unit while in Southwest Asia there is no evidence that he was directly engaged in active ground combat at any time while in the theater of operations and as such is not entitled to award of the Combat Infantryman. The mere fact that he was in a combat environment is not a basis for award of the badge.
2. The applicants contention that he was pushed from the building by an enemy soldier while clearing houses is not supported by information contained in official records. His service medical records appear to indicate the applicant may have been guarding enemy POWs when one of them pushed him from the building. Neither the applicant, nor his records, indicate the location of the urban environment where the incident occurred.
3. Injuries sustained at the hands of an enemy POW while that enemy POW is under US supervision can not be considered to have occurred a result of hostile action for the purposes of award of the Purple Heart.
4. In the absence of more convincing evidence that the applicant was actively engaged in ground combat or that his injuries occurred while on a combat mission, as opposed to while guarding enemy POWs, it would be inappropriate to award him either the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart.
5. 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 the aforementioned requirement.
6. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicants request.
DETERMINATION: The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.
BOARD VOTE:
GRANT
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
DENY APPLICATION
Karl F. Schneider
Acting Director
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