RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         09 DECEMBER 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004104755


      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:

|     |Mr. Melvin Meyer                  |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Linda Simmons                 |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Michael Flynn                 |     |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 award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states that he was wounded on 16 February 1963 while
serving as an advisor to the 2nd Regiment in the Republic of Vietnam.  He
states that because he was not awarded the Purple Heart he is not receiving
the priority group placement afforded to Purple Heart recipients by the
Department of Veterans Affairs.

3.  The applicant provides copies of two messages indicating that he
sustained a broken ankle when he jumped from a helicopter that was hovering
20 feet above ground.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 30 September 1983.  The application submitted in this
case is dated 26 February 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 limitation 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 retired for
length of service in pay grade 0-6 on 30 September 1983 after more than 26
years of active Federal service.

4.  His records indicate he served his first of two tours of duty in
Vietnam between August 1962 and September 1963.

5.  One of the messages submitted by the applicant, in support of his
request, indicates that the Chief, Military Assistance Advisory Group
notified The Adjutant General, Department of the Army, on 18 February 1983,
that on 16 February 1983 the applicant sustained a simple fracture to his
left ankle “while jumping from helicopter hovering 20 feet above ground.”
The message noted that the helicopter was “engaged in combat mission” at
the time of the injury.  The second message, submitted by the applicant,
was addressed to his mother and merely indicated that the applicant had
“sustained a simple fracture of the left ankle incurred when he jumped from
a helicopter hovering twenty feet above the ground.”

6.  Included in the applicant’s Official Military Personnel File is a copy
of an
8 August 1963 translation of a Vietnamese statement from an officer of the
Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces to the Chief, Military Assistance Advisory
Group, Vietnam, noting that the applicant, on 16 February 1963, “landed by
helicopter on target in the mist of enemy fire concentration on the
helicopter.  The officer concerned was courageous enough to jump down and
as a result unfortunately suffered a broken leg.”

7.  There is no indication that the applicant was ever awarded the Purple
Heart and his name was not among a list of individuals reported as combat
casualties during the Vietnam War.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, 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.  The regulation does specifically note that “it is not
intended that such a strict interpretation of the requirement for the wound
or injury to be caused by direct result of hostile action be taken that it
would preclude the award being made to deserving personnel.  Commanders
must also take into consideration the circumstances surrounding an injury.”

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence indicates that the applicant jumped from the helicopter
while the helicopter was under enemy fire.  Clearly the applicant’s injury
can be considered to have resulted from hostile action, even though he may
not have been reported as a combat casualty.  The evidence suggests that it
was unlikely that he would have jumped if he were not on “a combat mission”
as noted in the notification message to the The Adjutant General, and if
the helicopter were not under enemy fire as noted in the translated
Vietnamese statement.

2.  As such, in the interest of justice and equity, it would be appropriate
to award the applicant the Purple Heart for the injury he sustained on 16
February 1963.



BOARD VOTE:

___MM__  ___LS___  __MF___  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant
a recommendation for relief and to excuse failure to timely file.  As a
result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the
individual concerned be corrected by awarding him the Purple Heart for the
injury he sustained on 16 February 1963.




                            ______Melvin Meyer________
                                      CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004104755                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041209                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.00                                  |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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