PROCEEDINGS


         IN THE CASE OF:
        

         BOARD DATE: 26 June 2003
         DOCKET NUMBER: AR2002079982


         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.

Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director
Mr. Richard P. Nelson		Analyst

The following members, a quorum, were present:

Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson
Mr. Lester Echols		Member
Mr. Lawrence Foster		Member

         The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

         The Board considered the following evidence:

         Exhibit A - Application for correction of military
records
         Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
         advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS :

1. The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

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2. The applicant requests correction of his military records to show a second award of the Purple Heart and issuance of a certificate for the first award of the Purple Heart.

3. The applicant states that he was wounded, as a result of enemy action, on 13 March 1968, while on a mission attempting to recover wounded and killed comrades from an ambush site. In support of his request, the applicant submits a letter from another member of his unit who was present during the incident. The applicant also submits copies of letters from other unit members describing the incident in which the applicant states he was wounded. These letters are printed in a June 2001 issue of “The Vietnam Triple Deuce, Inc.”, an association newsletter of the 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, while the unit was in Vietnam.

4. The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 26 June 1967. He completed basic and advanced individual training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, where he was trained as an Infantryman in Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 11B10. The applicant was then assigned to the 25th Infantry Division in the Republic of Vietnam, where he served until 27 May 1968, when he was wounded in battle. He returned to the United States on 20 June 1968. The applicant was later reclassified, by reason of physical disability, into MOS 71H20 (Military Personnel Specialist). He was honorably separated from active duty on 25 June 1969.

5. The applicant's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows entitlement to the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal with “V” Device, the Vietnam Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar.

6. The applicant's DD Form 214 does not show award of a second Purple Heart.

7. The applicant’s name is listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster and shows wounds received on 27 May 1968, the same date shown on Headquarters, 45th Surgical Hospital General Orders Number 22, announcing the first award of the Purple Heart to the applicant. There are no other entries on the Vietnam Casualty Roster showing the applicant was wounded on any other date.

8. There is an entry in item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant’s DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) that shows the applicant was wounded on 27 May 1968. There are no other entries in item 40 of the DA Form 20.

9. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show a second award of the Purple Heart.

10. A staff member of the Army Review Boards Agency conducted a review of unit records maintained at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Review of these records did not reveal any General Orders authorizing the applicant a second award of the Purple Heart

11. The applicant has provided 2 pieces of evidence in support of his request for award of the Purple Heart.

a. A handwritten eyewitness statement, dated 27 August 2002, that describes the events of the applicant’s wounding on 13 March 1968. The statement indicates that the applicant received a wound in the vicinity of his left eye from an “enemy round.” The statement goes on to say that the applicant’s face was very bloody and that he remembers the applicant being given a tetanus shot as part of the treatment administered.

b. A copy of the June 2001 issue of “The Vietnam Triple Deuce, Inc.”, an association newsletter of the 2d Battalion, 22d Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. In the newsletter, there are letters to the editor from three individual members of the unit, which describe the events of 13 March 1968. One letter is written by the applicant, another is written by the eyewitness described in 12a, above, and the last is written by a third member of the unit who witnessed the events. Two of the letters describe a “grazing shot” to the applicant’s left eye and the third states that the applicant was wounded. Two of the letters describe the applicant being “patched up” by his platoon sergeant, given a shot, and sent back into combat.

12. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, 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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

13. U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provided, in pertinent part, for award of the Purple Heart. The regulation stated that authority to award the Purple Heart was delegated to hospital commanders. Further, it directed that all personnel treated and released within 24 hours will be awarded the Purple Heart by the organization to which the individual is assigned. Personnel requiring hospitalization in excess of 24 hours or evacuation from Vietnam will be awarded the Purple Heart directly by the hospital commander rendering treatment.

14. There is no indication in the applicant’s personnel records that he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal. There also is no evidence the applicant was disqualified by his unit commander for award of the Good Conduct Medal. Records show the applicant’s conduct and efficiency were rated as “excellent” or “unknown” throughout his first two years of qualifying service and there is no indication of indiscipline in his service personnel records.

15. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Good Conduct Medal is awarded to individuals who distinguish themselves by their conduct, efficiency and fidelity during a qualifying period of active duty enlisted service. This period is 3 years except in those cases when the period for the first award ends with the termination of a period of Federal military service. Although there is no automatic entitlement to the Good Conduct Medal, disqualification must be justified.

16. The Board noted the absence of unit awards in the applicant’s military personnel records.

17. Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards received by units that served in the Vietnam War. This document shows the unit to which the applicant was assigned, was cited the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation based on Department of the Army General Orders Number 48, dated 1971 and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation based on Department of the Army General Orders Number 51, dated 1971.

18. The applicant’s DD Form 214 shows award of the Vietnam Service Medal, but does not show campaign credit for the periods the applicant served in Vietnam.

19. Army Regulation 600-8-22, in pertinent part, authorizes award of a bronze service star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate service medal. The appendix shows that the applicant is entitled to wear one bronze service star for each the following Vietnam campaigns: Vietnam Counter Offensive, Phase III, Tet Counteroffensive, and Vietnam Counter Offensive, Phase IV.

20. The Board noted the applicant’s records do not show award of the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960). This medal was awarded by the Government of Vietnam to all members of the Armed Forces of the United States for qualifying service in Vietnam during the period 1 March 1961 through 28 March 1973. Qualifying service included assignment in Vietnam for 6 months or more. Qualifying service outside the geographical limits of the Republic of Vietnam required the individual to provide direct combat support to the Republic of Vietnam and Armed Forces. Individuals who had qualified for award of the Vietnam Service Medal or the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and were evacuated prior to completing six months of service due to wounds resulting from hostile action were entitled to award of the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960).

21. The Board noted that the applicant’s records do not show overseas service bars.

22. Army Regulation 670-1, in effect at the time, governs the requirements for the Overseas Service Bar. In pertinent part, it provides that a bar is authorized for wear for each period of active Federal service as a member of the U.S. Army outside of the continental limits of the United States for the specific time frames and areas of operation cited in Army Regulation 670-1 or appropriate Department of the Army message. There are special provisions regarding authorization for the Overseas Service Bar for service in a hostile fire zone and for combining service to calculate award of the bars. For Vietnam service, one overseas service bar is authorized for each period of 6 months active Federal service as a member of a U.S. Service in Vietnam from 1 July 1958 to 28 March 1973. Both the month of arrival and the month of departure from Vietnam are counted as whole months for credit toward the overseas service bar.

CONCLUSIONS:

1. The Board considered the applicant's request to correct his military records to show a second award of the Purple Heart.

2. There is no evidence in the applicant’s service personnel records which shows that he was wounded, or treated for wounds or injuries, as a result of hostile action, on any date other than 27 May 1968, for which the applicant received the first award of the Purple Heart.

3. The Board notes the 27 August 2002 eyewitness statement included with the applicant’s request that describes the events of 13 March 1968. The Board notes that the statement clearly describes the wound sustained by the applicant, as a result of hostile action, and the treatment of that wound by the applicant’s platoon sergeant.

4. The Board also notes the descriptions of the events of 13 March 1968 in the letters written to the editor of “The Vietnam Triple Deuce, Inc.” association newsletter of June 2001. The letters, written by the applicant and two other members of the applicant’s unit, all refer to a wound sustained by the applicant as a result of hostile action 13 March 1968.

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5. The Board noted the lack of records which show the applicant was wounded 13 March 1968. However, the Board determined that the eyewitness statements are sufficient to justify correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart as a result of being wounded, as a result of hostile action, in the Republic of Vietnam on 13 March 1968.

6. Accordingly, the Board determined that the applicant’s military records should be corrected to show a first award of the Purple Heart on 13 March 1968. The Board further determined that the applicant’s records should be corrected to show a second award of the Purple Heart on 27 May 1968.

7. The applicant is entitled to the first award of the Good Conduct Medal based on completion of a period of qualifying service of two years from 26 June 1967 to 25 June 1969. Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show this award.

8. Evidence of record shows that the applicant received the Vietnam Service Medal and participated in three campaigns. As a result, the applicant is entitled to award of three bronze service stars and correction of his records to show these service stars.

9. General orders show that the applicant’s unit was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm while he was assigned to the unit. Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show this unit award.

10. General orders show that the applicant’s unit was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class while he was assigned to the unit. Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show this unit award.

11. Based on the applicant’s evacuation for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action, his service in Vietnam qualifies him for award of the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960). Therefore, he is entitled to correction of his records to show this award.

12. Evidence of record shows that the applicant is eligible for one overseas service bar. Therefore he is entitled to correction of his records to show one overseas service bar.

13. In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

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RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the first award of the Purple Heart on 13 March 1968, the Purple Heart, First Oak Leaf Cluster on 27 May 1968, the first award of the Good Conduct Medal, three bronze service stars, to be affixed to the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960) and one overseas service bar.

BOARD VOTE:

___LF___ __WTM__ __LE____ GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION




                  ______________________
                  CHAIRPERSON

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INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002079982
SUFFIX
RECON	YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED	20030626
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .
DISCHARGE REASON
BOARD DECISION	GRANT PLUS
REVIEW AUTHORITY	130
ISSUES 1.	107.0015.0000
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.