RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        27 January 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040000781


      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. David S. Griffin              |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Raymond J. Wagner             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Eloise C. Prendergast         |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Brenda K. Koch                |     |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 that the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge
and the Purple Heart be added to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the
United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).

2.  The applicant states that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge
and the Purple Heart while he was in Vietnam.  He states that neither award
is listed on his DD 214 and that the awards would assist him in obtaining
VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) benefits.

3.  The applicant states that he is providing a Purple Heart citation.
However, this citation was not received by the Board's staff.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error, which
occurred on 20 January 1969, the date of his separation from active
service.  The application submitted in this case is dated 22 April 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.  The applicant's military records show he was enlisted on 20 January
1969 for a period of 2 years.  He successfully completed basic combat and
advanced individual training and was awarded the military occupational
specialty (MOS) 11B10 (light weapons infantryman).  The records show that
the applicant served in Vietnam from 19 June 1969 through 23 August 1970.
He was assigned to
C Company, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry from 6 July 1969 through 5 October
1969 and to B Company, 23rd Supply and Transportation Battalion, 46th
Infantry from 6 October 1969 through 19 August 1970.

4.  On 18 August 1969, the applicant was seen by medical personnel along
with his first sergeant.  The specialist who examined the applicant wrote
that:

      a.  basically the applicant was an inadequate individual with a
limited means of coping with frustrations, psychological or physical
demands, and had a high level of emotional instability;
      b.  the applicant was experiencing acute anxieties due to the stresses
of combat and their repercussions, enemy contact, family separation, and
personal fears and doubts;


      c.  the applicant had tension headaches and was removed from the field
on two occasions;


      d.  the applicant's numerous psychological problems were clarified
with him and that the applicant's unit was willing to give him another
trial of functioning; and


      e.  the applicant was returned to his unit and suggested he see his
battalion surgeon for pain killers for headaches and the chaplain to air-
out his fears.


5.  On 4 September 1969, the applicant was seen by the division
psychiatrist.  The psychiatrist wrote that:

      a.  the applicant has had more severe and frequent problems with
headaches since arriving in Vietnam;

      b.  in the field the applicant had spells of anxiety, dizziness,
headaches and cowering under fire that rendered him virtually useless to
the unit;

      c.  the applicant seemed unable to exert any control over his
symptoms and that it was apparent that the applicant had functioned
inadequately for some time; and

      d.  diagnosed the applicant with psychophysiology reaction in an
emotionally unstable personality.

6.  On 4 September 1969, the division psychiatrist placed the applicant on
profile for psychophysiology reaction in an emotionally unstable
personality and removed him from combat field duty.

7.  On 6 October 1969, the applicant was assigned to duties as a light
truck driver.

8.  The record showed that the applicant successfully completed his tour in
Vietnam and on 23 August 1970, the applicant was released from active duty
having served one year, seven months, and four days of service
characterized as honorable.

9.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendation, Citations and
Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214,
with an effective date of 23 August 1970, does not show award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart.

10.  Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of the applicant's DA Form 20
(Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart.

11.  Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 contains the entry, "FW
(L) leg" (fragment wound left leg) and is dated 9 September 1969.

12.  The applicant's military service records do not contain orders for
award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

13.  The Vietnam Casualty List showed the applicant was wounded in action
on
9 September 1969.

14.  The applicant's military service records do not contain orders for
award of the Purple Heart.

15.  A review of the applicant's records show that he is entitled to
additional awards, which are not listed on his DD Form 214.

16.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign
Participation Credit Register) lists the unit awards received by units
serving in Vietnam.  This document shows that, at the time of the
applicant’s assignment to the 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, the unit
received the Valorous Unit Award for the period 11 through 31 August 1969,
based on Department of the Army General Order Number 43, dated 1972.

17.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 also shows that, at the time of
the applicant’s assignment to the 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, the unit
received the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation
for the period
24 August 1969 through 31 December 1969, based on Department of the Army
General Order Number 42, dated 1972.

18.  The applicant's military service records show that he was assigned in
Vietnam from 19 June 1969 through 23 August 1970.  Based on his dates of
service in Vietnam, Table B-1 of Army Regulation 600-8-22 shows he served
in the Vietnam Summer - Fall 1969 Campaign (9 June 1969 - 31 October 1969);
the
Vietnam Winter - Spring 1970 Campaign (1 November 1969 - 30 April 1970);
the
DA Sanctuary Counteroffensive Campaign (1 May 1970 - 30 June 1970); and the
Vietnam Counteroffensive Phase VII Campaign (1 July 1970 - 30 June 1971).

19.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat
Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and
warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in
active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of
brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The Awards Branch of the U.S. Army
Human Resources Command (formerly known as the Total Army Personnel
Command) has advised, in similar cases, that during the Vietnam era the
Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held
and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11F, 11G, or 11H.

20.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 prescribes Army policy and procedures
concerning awards.  Paragraph 8-6 provides for award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge.  This paragraph states that there are basically three
requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The soldier must
be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, he must be
assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in
active ground combat, and he must actively participate in such ground
combat.  Specific requirements state, in effect, that an Army enlisted
soldier must have an infantry specialty, satisfactorily performed duty
while assigned or attached as a member of an infantry unit of brigade,
regimental, or smaller size during any period such unit was engaged in
active ground combat.  A recipient must be personally present and under
hostile fire while serving in an assigned infantry primary duty, in a unit
actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy.

21.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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.  This regulation
also provides that there is no statute of limitations on requests for award
of the Purple Heart.

22.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, for award of the
Valorous Unit Award to units of the Armed Forces of the United States for
extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy of the United States
while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing
foreign force or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an
armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party for
actions occurring on or after 3 August 1963.  This award requires a lesser
degree of gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps than required for
the Presidential Unit Citation.  Nevertheless, the unit must have performed
with marked distinction under difficult and hazardous conditions in
accomplishing its mission so as to set it apart from and above other units
participating in the same conflict.  The degree of heroism required is the
same as that which would warrant award of the Silver Star to an individual.

23. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), in pertinent part,
authorizes award of the bronze service star, based on qualifying service,
for each campaign listed in Appendix B of this regulation.  A silver star
is worn instead of five bronze service stars.  The regulations state that
authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the appropriate service
medal, which in this case is the Vietnam Service Medal.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge
and the Purple Heart while in Vietnam and they should be added to his
DD Form 214.

2.  The record shows that the applicant was assigned to an infantry unit of
brigade, regimental or smaller size and that he held MOS 11B10.

3.  The record shows that the applicant experienced acute anxieties and had
tension headaches that caused him to be removed from the field on two
occasions.

4.  The records shows that the applicant had spells of anxiety, dizziness,
headaches and cowering under fire that rendered him virtually useless to
his unit.

5.  A psychiatrist placed the applicant on profile for psychophysiology
reaction in an emotionally unstable personality and removed him from combat
field duty.

6.  According to Army Regulation 600-8-22 one of the criteria for award of
the Combat Infantryman Badge is that the soldier must be an infantryman
satisfactorily performing infantry duties.  The evidence of record shows
that the applicant was unable to satisfactorily perform the duties of an
infantryman.

7.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant is not entitled to award of the
Combat Infantryman Badge.

8.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant is entitled to award of
the Purple Heart for wounds received on 9 September 1969 in the Republic of
Vietnam.

9.  The applicant was serving with 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry during the
period the unit was cited for award of Valorous Unit Award.  Therefore the
applicant is entitled to Valorous Unit Award.

10.  The applicant was serving with 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry during the
period the unit was cited for award of Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross
with Palm Unit Citation.  Therefore the applicant is entitled to Republic
of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation.

11.  The applicant's military personnel records show he participated in
four campaigns during his service in Vietnam.  Therefore, he is entitled to
four bronze service stars to be worn on his Vietnam Service Medal.

12.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 23 August 1970; therefore, the time
for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or
injustice expired on
22 August 1973.  Although the applicant did not file within the ABCMR's
statute
of limitations, it is appropriate to waive failure to timely file in this
case based on the fact there is no statute of limitations on requests for
award of the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF

__ecp___  ____bkk_  ____rjw__ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________ DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to
warrant a recommendation for partial 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 showing:

      a.  award of the Purple Heart for wounds sustained 9 September 1969
in the Republic of Vietnam;

      b.  award of the Valorous Unit Award;


      c.  award of four bronze service stars to be worn on his Vietnam
Service Medal; and


      d.  award of the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit
Citation.

2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is
insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result,
the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to
the Combat Infantryman Badge.




                                  ___Raymond J. Wagner____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040000781                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20050127                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |                                        |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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