RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:         07 OCTOBER 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR2004105198


      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. Walter Morrison               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Paul Smith                    |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Patrick McGann                |     |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, award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states that he has been denied the Purple Heart award and
has been denied "combat wounds and consequences of wounds."

3.  In a letter to the director of the Board, he noted that he was
submitting two letters "evidencing [his] combat injuries."   He also noted
that a copy of an Army form (Department of the Army Form 20 – Enlisted
Qualification Report) which was provided to him in earlier correspondence
from the Board, appeared to have been altered.  He states that the form
does not show the 1968 "TET Offensive" when his unit was awarded the
Presidential Unit Citation and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

4.  He states that an award for the "TET Counter Offensive was erased and
replaced by VNSM that was then lined out."  He also notes that his survival
escape and evasion training entry on the form is beneath an entry "that has
been almost erased" and that the date of "pistol training is substantially
incorrect as well."

5.  The applicant does not submit any medical documents confirming his
combat injuries, but does submit two statements he contends confirm his
combat wounds.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 2 November 1968.  The application submitted in this case
is dated
9 March 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 entered
active duty on 17 November 1966.  He was trained as a military policeman
and was briefly assigned to a military police company at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina, prior to being reassigned to Vietnam in December 1967.  He
departed Vietnam in November 1968.

4.  Orders contained in his file note that he qualified as an expert with
the M-14 rifle in January 1967, as a marksman with the .45 caliber pistol
in August 1967, and as an expert with the M-16 automatic rifle in September
1967.  He was awarded the associated badges and component bar.  His weapon
qualification information is reflected in item 41 (awards and decorations)
on his Department of the Army Form 20, but was omitted from his separation
document.

5.  The applicant was initially assigned to the 527th Military Police
Company upon his arrival in Vietnam and subsequently assigned to Company A,
716th Military Police Battalion in October 1968.

6.  The 527th Military Police Company was awarded a Presidential Unit
Citation for its actions between 31 January and 10 February 1968 and a
Meritorious Unit Commendation for actions between 1 January and 15 October
1968.  Department of the Army General Orders confirming the two unit awards
were not published until 1969.  The applicant, as a member of that
organization during the period for which it was awarded the two unit
awards, is entitled to those decorations.  However, the decorations were
omitted from his separation document.

7.  The 716th Military Police Battalion was awarded the Republic of Vietnam
Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation while the applicant was
a member of that organization.  Department of the Army General Orders
confirming that award were published in 1973.  That unit award was also
omitted from his separation document.

8.  The applicant would have been credited with participating in four
designated campaigns (Vietnam Counteroffensive Phases III, IV, and V, and
TET Counteroffensive).  Although item 39 (campaigns), on his Department of
the Army Form 20 reflects the Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase III and TET
Counteroffensive, the other two campaigns were not recorded.  Four bronze
service stars on his Vietnam Service Medal, which is reflected on his
separation document, should reflect the applicant's campaign participation.

9.  Department of the Army Pamphlet provides, in pertinent part, for award
of the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm to all
individuals who served in Vietnam between 20 July 1965 and 28 March 1973 in
a unit which was subordinate to Headquarters, United States Army Vietnam.
The applicant’s unit was such a unit.
10.  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.

11.  The applicant's service medical records were not available to the
Board.  However, a copy of his separation physical examination, completed
on
2 November 1968 was available.  Neither the applicant, nor his examining
physician noted treatment for any wounds incurred as a result of hostile
action while in Vietnam.  Item 40 (wounds) on the applicant's Department of
the Army Form 20 is blank and his name is not among a list of individuals
reported as combat casualties during the Vietnam War.

12.  An examination, conducted on 26 December 1968, after the applicant was
released from active duty, noted that he had suffered from and/or been
treated for a hernia, hemorrhoids, a bone chip in his left tibia, and
psoriasis, while in the Army.  There was, however, no notation of any
wounds incurred as a result of hostile action.  The examination document
did note that the applicant's leg was operated on, but did not indicate
that enemy action was cause of his leg condition.

13.  One of the statements, submitted in support of the applicant's
request, was authored in January 2004.  The author indicated that he was
assigned to Company B and C of the 726th Military Police Battalion in 1967
and 1968 and lived with the applicant during that time.  He stated that he
remembers that the applicant was "wounded more than once.  It would have
been in February or March 1968 during the TET Offensive."  The applicant
authored the second statement.  In that statement, dated 23 February 2004,
he asked a woman to "please sign this letter at the space provided below"
if she recalled a conversation "about a year ago" between her spouse, the
applicant, and another individual during which her spouse "commented that
he recalled me [the applicant] being wounded three times."  The woman
signed her name at the bottom of the letter.

14.  On 2 November 1968 the applicant was released from active duty.  His
separation document does not reflect award of the Purple Heart.

15.  The Department of the Army Form 20, which the applicant indicated had
been previously provided to him, and which he contends was altered, does
reflect the entry "VNSM AR 672-5-1" which was lined through in item 41
(Awards and Decorations) on the form.  Beneath that entry is the typed
entry "VSM" (Vietnam Service Medal).  There does appear to have been an
entry in item 45 (item continuation), which was erased, and then a typed
entry of "28 SUR ESCAPE EVAS/" followed by the handwritten, pencil entry of
"24Apr68."

16.  The Department of the Army Form 20 was a management tool used by
various members of a Soldier's chain of command, and by military personnel
officials, to manage the Soldier's career and to record various issues
relating to the individual's military career, including such things as
awards, assignments, training, combat wounds, and promotions.  Permanent
entries were generally typed or handwritten in ink, while temporary entries
were handwritten in pencil.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Unfortunately, there is no medical evidence which confirms that the
applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action while in Vietnam and as
such there is no basis for an award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant's contention that his Department of the Army Form 20 was
altered is without foundation.  The entries on the form appear consistent
with documents in his official military personnel file.

3.  The applicant's unit awards were not confirmed in Department of the
Army General Orders until after he was separated from active duty and as
such would not have been recorded on the Department of the Army Form 20.
The entry "VNSM" which was lined was likely replaced by the entry "VSM"
when it was discovered that the proper abbreviation for the Vietnam Service
Medal was "VSM" and not "VNSM."

4.  The erasure of an entry on the Department of the Army Form 20 would not
be inconsistent with the purpose of the form, which was to record both
temporary and permanent information.  An erasure would not be evidence that
the form had been altered but merely an indication that a temporary entry
was no longer required or necessary in the management of the individual's
career.

5.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 2 November 1968; therefore, the time
for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or
injustice expired on
1 November 1971.  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.

6.  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

__WM___  __PS ___  __PM ___  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:

      a.  qualification as an expert with the M-14 rifle and M-16 automatic
rifle and as a marksman with the .45 caliber pistol and that he was awarded
the associated badges and component bars;

      b.  entitlement to a Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit
Commendation, Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class
Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
with Palm; and

      c.  four bronze service stars on his Vietnam Service Medal.



                                  _____Walter Morrison______
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004105198                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041007                                |
|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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