APPLICANT REQUESTS: Award of the Purple Heart. He states he was shot in [his] right leg in Vietnam but the military never recognized [his] injury.... In support of his request he provides a statement from another individual who claims to have witnessed the injury but was not a member of the applicants unit.
PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.
EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant's military records show:
He entered active duty in 1965 and served in Vietnam between 1966 and 1967. On 10 October 1968 he was released from active duty. His DD Form 214, which he authenticated, does not list the Purple Heart as an authorized decoration.
He reenlisted in October 1969 and remained on active duty until his retirement in October 1986 in pay grade E-6. The Purple Heart is not listed as an authorized award on any of the DD Forms 214 issued during the applicants military service, nor is it listed on his DA Form 20 (enlisted qualification record) or DA Form 2-1 (personnel qualification record). Additionally, item 40 (wounds) on the applicants DA Form 20, which he last authenticated in 1973, is blank.
Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides 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. This is no evidence, and the applicant has not provided any, which confirms he was wounded as a result of hostile action. Several attempts to obtain his VA records which may contain copies of his service medical records were unsuccessful.
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. Failure to file within 3 years may be excused by a correction board if it finds it would be in the interest of justice to do so.
DISCUSSION: The alleged error or injustice was, or with reasonable diligence should have been discovered on 31 October 1986, the date his discharge. The time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 31 October 1989.
The application is dated 19 November 1993 and the applicant has not explained or otherwise satisfactorily demonstrated by competent evidence that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to apply within the time allotted.
DETERMINATION: The subject application was not submitted within the time required. The applicant has not presented and the records do not contain sufficient justification to conclude that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the relief requested or to excuse the failure to file within the time prescribed by law.
BOARD VOTE:
EXCUSE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE
GRANT FORMAL HEARING
CONCUR WITH DETERMINATION
Karl F. Schneider
Acting Director
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APPLICANT REQUESTS: Correction of his military records to reflect award of the Purple Heart and Combat Medical Badge. The physician stated that in December 1966, while carrying a litter he asked him about a limp and noticed he was bleeding from his right leg. The statement goes on to note as I recall checking him [the applicant] I located shrapnel in his right leg, right side of waist, and the left upper section of his chest. PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted...
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PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. EVIDENCE OF RECORD: The applicant's military records show: He entered active duty on 14 March 1967 and in October 1968 was assigned to Vietnam as an infantryman with the 503rd Infantry. The applicant authenticated his DA Form 20 in September 1969 and his separation report on the date of his discharge.
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The applicant, who died as the result of a single vehicle accident in 1995, subsequent to submitting his request to this Board, stated that he was wounded in action in April 1969 and was treated in the field and released to duty. PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. His separation physical examination, completed on 12 December 1969,...
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The applicant, who died as the result of single vehicle accident in 1995, subsequent to submitting his request to this Board, stated that he was wounded in action in April 1969 and was treated in the field and released to duty. PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. His separation physical examination, completed on 12 December 1969, is...
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APPLICANT REQUESTS: Award of the Purple Heart for injuries sustained on 13 March 1966 when his helicopter crashed during an assault mission. PURPOSE: To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action.
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RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 26 July 2005 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20040011059 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. There is no evidence in the available records which shows that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence on which to...
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There is no evidence of record which shows that the applicant was wounded or treated for any injuries as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error now under consideration on 28 February 1986; therefore, the time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error expired on 27 February 1989. Therefore, the Board requests that the CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual concerned to...
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The applicant requests correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart and his Vietnam service awards. The applicant requested correction of his records to show award of the Silver Star. The applicant authenticated both DD Forms 214 and neither document show the Purple Heart in the list of authorized awards.