| Mr. Carl W. S. Chun | Director | |
| Mr. Joseph A. Adriance | Analyst |
| Ms. Jennifer L. Prater | Chairperson | ||
| Mr. Arthur A. Omartian | Member | ||
| Ms. Margaret K. Patterson | Member |
2. The applicant requests, in effect, reconsideration of his previous request to be awarded the Purple Heart (PH).
3. The applicant states, in effect, that he should be awarded the PH for wounds he received in action on 1 May 1968, while serving in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN). In support of his latest request, the applicant provides a third party witness statement from an individual who claims to be the medical aidman (Medic) who treated the applicant for the wound in question, and orders awarding this Medic the PH for being wounded in the same action.
4. The Proceedings of the Board’s 5 February 2002 review of the case (AR2002060831) are incorporated herein by reference as if wholly set forth. The applicant’s submission is new evidence and/or argument that requires Board consideration.
5. As confirmed in the original Board decisional document, the applicant served in the RVN with K Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry, from February through December 1968. In its original deliberations, the Board concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support awarding the applicant the PH.
6. In support of his reconsideration request, the applicant now provides a third party witness statement from the former Medic of his unit in the RVN. The individual who prepared this statement indicates that he was a Senior Line Medic in the RVN, and that he was assigned to the K Troop, 3rd Squadron,
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, from December 1967 through December 1968. He states that on 1 May 1968, while the unit was in the process of assaulting an enemy complex, several men were wounded. He confirms that when an enemy soldier threw a hand grenade, the applicant received a shrapnel wound to the left hand and he was wounded in the face. He states that even though he sustained a face wound, he was still able to treat the applicant’s wound by bandaging it. He further indicates that a helicopter arrived to evacuate the wounded, but in spite of his insistence that the applicant needed further treatment, the applicant refused evacuation.
7. The third party also states that it was just recently after talking with the applicant that he realized that the documentation to support awarding the applicant the PH was misplaced while they were still in the RVN. He indicates that he is submitting this supporting statement in the applicant’s behalf in order to validate and support his request for the PH. In order to prove the validity of his statement, he provides a copy of the orders awarding him the PH, for the wound he received on the same date and during the same action in which he claims the applicant was also wounded. He also includes copy of the orders awarding him the Combat Medical Badge, as evidence to show that he did in fact serve as a Medic with the applicant’s unit in the RVN. He concludes by commenting that it is his hope that his statement, and the supporting evidence, will be sufficient to award the applicant the PH to which he is entitled.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards. Paragraph 2-8 contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to awarding the PH. It states, in pertinent part, that the PH is awarded to any member of an Armed Forces who, while serving in any capacity with one of the Armed Services after 5 April 1917, has been wounded or killed as a result of hostile action by an enemy. A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained as a result of enemy action. In order to support awarding a member the PH, it is necessary to establish that the wound, for which the award is being made, required treatment by a medical officer. This treatment must be supported by records of medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action, and must have been made a matter of official record.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. The Board notes the applicant’s claim of entitlement to the PH, and it finds this contention has merit. By regulation, in order to support awarding the PH necessary to establish that a member was wounded or injured in action, the wound or injury required treatment, and this treatment was made a matter of official record.
2. The evidence of record confirms that the applicant and the third party who provided the supporting statement were serving in the same unit in the RVN on the date the third party was wounded. Although the standard evidentiary records required for awarding the PH are not present in this case, the Board finds the information and evidence provided in the third party witness statement provided by the applicant is sufficiently credible to support his claim of entitlement to the PH.
3. In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, correcting the applicant’s records as recommended below would correct an error or rectify an injustice.
RECOMMENDATION:
That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart for being wounded in action on 1 May 1968, while serving as a sergeant/E-5 in the RVN; and by providing him a corrected separation document that reflects this change.
BOARD VOTE:
__JLP__ __ AAO _ __ MKP __ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
_ Jennifer L. Prater _
INDEX
| CASE ID | AR2002079786 |
| SUFFIX | |
| RECON | |
| DATE BOARDED | 2003/03/18 |
| TYPE OF DISCHARGE | HD |
| DATE OF DISCHARGE | 1969/11/21 |
| DISCHARGE AUTHORITY | AR 635-200 |
| DISCHARGE REASON | ETS |
| BOARD DECISION | Grant |
| REVIEW AUTHORITY | |
| ISSUES 1. 61 | 107.0015 |
| 2. | |
| 3. | |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. |
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