RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            02 SEPTEMBER 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2004101591


      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. Kenneth H. Aucock             |     |Analyst              |


      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Walter Morrison               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. William Powers                |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Ronald Weaver                 |     |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 a second award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states that he should receive award of the Purple Heart
for short and long-term illnesses caused by chemical instruments of war, in
that he has cancer due to chemical exposure and diabetes mellitus type II
due to chemical exposure of herbicides.  He states, in effect, that Agent
Orange with TCDD (dioxin) and other chemicals used during his combat tour
in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 resulted in him receiving a 100 percent
disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  He states
that the chemicals entered his body through the air he breathed and the
food he ate.  They affected his skin, eyes, and ears and are affecting his
body today, reducing the length and quality of his life.  He also was
wounded in his head by shrapnel, which has caused short and long-term
damage to his health.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of a letter from the Army Physical
Disability Agency awarding him combat related special compensation for a
malignant growth genitourinary, diabetes mellitus, and condition of the
skeletal system, the first two for being in the area of operations, the
last for being wounded in action.  That letters shows that he is receiving
a 100 percent disability rating from the VA.
He provides copies of his DD Forms 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge
from Active duty), a copy of his personnel qualification record, a copy of
his retirement orders and related documents, a copy of a DD Form 215
(Correction to DD Form 214) showing award of the Purple Heart, a copy of a
Soldier and NCO of the month study guide, and copies of VA documents
relating to his disabilities, and reflecting the disability ratings awarded
to him by the VA.  Those ratings show that he was awarded a 100 percent
disability rating for prostate cancer due to herbicide exposure, 40 percent
for chronic peptic ulcer disease with marked duodenal deformity and anemia,
40 percent for diabetes mellitus type II due to exposure to Agent Orange,
10 percent because of a history of shell fragment wound to his skull with
retained fragments, 10 percent for degenerative arthritis, left knee, and10
percent for tinnitus.  He also provides a list of the medications that he
is taking.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant served on active duty for more than 27 years retiring on
          28 February 1982 in the rank of master sergeant, pay grade E-8.
His personnel qualification record shows that he served in Vietnam from
July 1968 to July 1969 with an aviation support detachment.

2.  On 7 October 1998 this Board granted his request for award of the
Purple Heart for a wound from a fragmentation grenade that he received in
Vietnam in 1969.  On 27 January 1999 a DD Form 215 was prepared to correct
his record to show award of the Purple Heart.

3.  Agent Orange was the code name for a herbicide developed for the
military, primarily for use in tropical climates.  Although the genesis of
the product goes back to the 1940's, serious testing for military
applications did not begin until the early 1960's.  Herbicides were
developed to be deployed in enemy areas to deny cover and concealment to
the enemy.  In dense terrain particularly, the use of herbicides to destroy
covering vegetation was to protect American and allied troops from ambush
or other undetected movement of the enemy.

4.  The purpose of the product was to deny an enemy cover and concealment
in dense terrain by defoliating trees and shrubbery where the enemy could
hide. The product "Agent Orange" (a code name for the orange band that was
used to mark the drums it was stored in), was principally effective against
broad-leaf foliage, such as the dense jungle-like terrain found in
Southeast Asia.
The product was tested in Vietnam in the early 1960's, and brought into
ever widening use during the height of the war (1967-68), though it's use
was diminished and eventually discontinued in 1971.

5.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides 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.

      a.  A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an
outside force or agent sustained as a result of an action by an enemy of
the United States.  A physical lesion is not required, however, the wound
for which the award is made must have required treatment by a medical
officer and records of medical treatment must have been made a matter of
official record.  Examples of enemy- related injuries which clearly justify
award of the Purple Heart include an injury caused by enemy placed mine or
trap, injury cased by enemy bullet, shrapnel, or other projectile created
by enemy action, and injury caused by enemy released chemical, biological,
or nuclear agent.

      b.  Examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not qualify for
award of the Purple Heart include diseases not directly caused by enemy
agents and chemical, biological, or nuclear agents not released by the
enemy.




DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence shows that the applicant has medical conditions caused by
his exposure to chemical agents during his service in Vietnam.  There is no
evidence, however, that the diseases that he now has were caused by enemy
released chemical agents.  To the contrary, it appears that his injuries
resulted from exposure to Agent Orange and other chemicals released in
Vietnam by United States forces.

2.  Consequently, because there is insufficient evidence to show that he
was wounded as a result of enemy action, he is not entitled to a second
award of the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

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.





            ______________________
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004101591                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20040902                                |
|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.       |107.15                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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