RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        3 MAY 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040005028


      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             |
|     |Ms. Deborah L. Brantley           |     |Senior Analyst       |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Ms. Shirley Powell                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Patrick McGann                |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Diane Armstrong               |     |Member               |

      The Board considered the following evidence:

      Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records.

      Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
if any).

THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests, in effect, that his four awards of the Purple
Heart be listed separately on his 1970 separation document.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that his separation document reflects
his awards of the Purple Heart as “Purple Heart w/3 Oak Leaf Cluster.”  He
maintains that each Purple Heart should be listed separately, as Purple
Heart, Purple Heart with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with 2 Oak Leaf
Cluster, etc.  He states he discovered that his Purple Hearts were not
listed separately when he applied for Department of Veterans Affairs
benefits.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of the orders, which awarded him his
initial Purple Heart, and a copy of the orders which awarded him his second
and third Purple Hearts.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 26 June 1970.  The application submitted in this case is
dated
9 July 2004.

2.  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 allows the Army
Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse failure to file
within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines that it
would be in the interest of justice to do so.  In this case, the ABCMR will
conduct a review of the merits of the case to determine if it would be in
the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate that the applicant entered
active duty on 27 June 1968 and served in Vietnam between November 1968 and
November 1969.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry, which
was part of the 25th Infantry Division.  He was wounded on 30 January 1969,
22 February 1969, 24 February 1969, and 25 May 1969.  Orders issued by the
25th Infantry Division confirmed his awards of the Purple Heart and his
1970 separation document reflect entitlement to those awards.  The entry on
the separation document is recorded as “Purple Heart w/3 Oak Leaf Cluster.”



4.  Army Regulation 635-5, in effect at the time, states that item 24 would
reflect all decorations, service medals, campaign credits, and badges
awarded or authorized, and omitting the authority for the awards which
would have been cited in section 9 (awards) of the Department of the Army
Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record).  In an effort to conserve space,
multiple awards of the same decoration were recorded by showing the award
with the highest Oak Leaf Cluster notation (i.e. Purple Heart w/3 OLC, Army
Commendation Medal w/1st OLC, etc.)  Today Army Regulation 635-5 states
that multiple awards of various decorations will be recorded as the basic
decoration followed by the total number of that award, rather than by the
number of Oak Leaf Clusters (i.e. Purple Heart(4), Army Commendation
Medal(2), etc.).

5.  The applicant’s file indicates that he was awarded an Army Good Conduct
Medal.  Orders issued by the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas
confirmed the award.  The award, however, was not recorded on his
separation document.

6.  A review of Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and
Campaign Participation Credit Register) notes the applicant’s unit was
awarded a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm and a
Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation
during his tenure with the organization.  The unit awards were also omitted
from his separation document.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s separation document correctly reflects his entitled to
four awards of the Purple Heart.  A single entry depicting each individual
award is not required and as such, no error or injustice exists.  Space for
military decorations on a separation document is limited and it would be
neither reasonable nor logical to provide a separate entry for each
individual decoration.  Had the applicant been awarded multiple awards of
the Army Commendation Medal or Bronze Star Medal those decorations would
also have been recorded with the appropriate Oak Leaf Cluster notation.

2.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must
show, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in
error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would
satisfy that requirement.




3.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 26 June 1970; therefore, the time for
the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice
expired on
25 June 1973.  However, the applicant did not file within the 3-year
statute of limitations and has not provided a compelling explanation or
evidence to show that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse
failure to timely file in this case.

4.  Evidence shows that the applicant’s records contain administrative
error which does not require action by the Board.  Therefore,
administrative correction of the applicant’s records will be accomplished
by the Case Management Support Division (CMSD), St. Louis, Missouri, as
outlined by the Board in paragraph 3 of the BOARD
DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___SP___  ___PM__  ___DA __  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that 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.

2.  As a result, the Board further determined that there is no evidence
provided which shows that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse
the applicant's failure to timely file this application within the 3-year
statute of limitations prescribed by law.  Therefore, there is insufficient
basis to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing or for
correction of the records of the individual concerned.

3.  The Board determined that administrative error in the records of the
individual should be corrected.  Therefore, the Board requests that the
CMSD-St. Louis administratively correct the records of the individual
concerned to show entitlement to the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross
Unit Citation with Palm, the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal
First Class Unit Citation, and the Army Good Conduct Medal.




                                  _____Shirley L. Powell______
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040005028                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050503                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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