RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        16 June 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20040009350


      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. Michael J. Fowler             |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Raymond J. Wagner             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Kenneth W. Lapin              |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Delia R. Trimble              |     |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 correction of his records to show award of the
Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he sustained combat wounds and
was treated for his injuries by military personnel while serving on combat
operations in the Persian Gulf from on or about the August 1991 through an
unknown period in 1992.  He states that his records were destroyed after
the incident and since then he has had problems obtaining his award of the
Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant provides a self-authored statement, dated 6 July 2004; an
undated statement of support from his mother; a DD Form 214 (Certificate of
Release or Discharge from Active Duty); a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD
Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty); a
Department of Veterans Affairs, Service Connected Disability Letter, dated
9 January 2004; and various letters from the applicant addressed to
different military agencies.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on 5 February 1996.  The application submitted in this case is
dated 21 October 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.  The applicant graduated from the United States Army Military Academy at
West Point and was commissioned in the Regular Army and entered active duty
on 20 December 1991.  He completed the Short Range Air Defense Artillery
Officer Basic Course and was assigned to B Battery, 5th Battalion, 2nd Air
Defense Artillery, Germany from on or about 27 September 1992 through on or
about 5 December 1993.



4.  A Joint Task Force - Southwest Asia memorandum, dated 24 September 1993
verifies that the applicant was attached to Headquarters and Headquarters
Battery, 6th Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery from 30 August 1993
though 1 October 1993.

5.  On 6 December 1993, the applicant was hospitalized for a psychotic
disorder.  Medical Evaluation Board proceedings were initiated in 1994.  He
was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type.  On 5 February
1996, he was honorably released from active duty and placed on the
Temporary Disability Retirement List (TDRL).  He was permanently retired on
19 October 1999.

6.  A DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal,
the Army Achievement Medal, Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service
Ribbon, the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Parachutist Badge, and the
Air Assault Badge.

7.  There are no general orders in the applicant’s service personnel
records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.  There also is no
evidence in his service personnel records that shows that he was wounded or
treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in the Persian Gulf.  The
applicant's name is not listed on the Persian Gulf Casualty Roster.

8.  The applicant's Army Medical Treatment Records are unavailable.

9.  A DD Form 215, dated 18 June 2004, was issued to the applicant which
corrected his social security number on his DD Form 214 and added the
Southwest Asia Service Medal with one bronze service star.

10.  The applicant provided a self-authored statement, dated 6 July 2004.
He stated, in effect, while assigned in Germany he volunteered and was
approved to go to the Persian Gulf.  He stated that he came in contact with
Iraqi combatants who detonated chemical munitions that gave him lesions and
open sores on his upper body.  The applicant further stated that he was
treated with injections by military medical personnel and within a week the
lesions were gone, leaving only minor scarring.  He further stated after
the incident he was sent home.

11.  The applicant provided an undated letter of support from his mother,
in effect, that stated she was notified by the Army that her son had
received injuries and further by her son of the accounts that led to his
wounds.  She stated that it has been an ordeal in trying to obtain the
actual medical records of her son's injuries so that he could get the
correct medical care available.

12.  The mother further stated that she felt that the medical personnel who
treated her son provided only limited assistance.  She stated that this had
an impact on his treatment and recovery.  She further stated this ten-year
ordeal continues because of the lack of understanding of the Gulf War
Syndrome and the related injuries that many of our sons suffered during
that conflict.

13.  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.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that the Purple Heart is awarded to a
member who has been wounded or killed:  (1) In any action against an enemy
of the United States; (2) In any action with an opposing armed force of a
foreign country in which the Armed Forces of the United States are or have
been engaged; (3) While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an
armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States
is not a belligerent party; (4) As a result of an act of any such enemy of
opposing armed forces; (5) As the result of an act of any hostile foreign
force; and (6) After 28 March 1973, as a result of an international
terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to
the United States, recognized as such an attack by the Secretary of Army,
or jointly by the Secretaries of the separate armed services concerned if
persons from more than one service are wounded in the attack.

15. Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides that there is no statute of
limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

16.  The U.S. Army Personnel Command message date time group 041813Z
September 1991, Subject: Termination of Wartime Awards Approval Authority
directed that wartime awards approval authority would terminate 7 October
1991, 180 days after the formal cessation of combat operations which began
on 17 January 1991.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's claim of entitlement to the Purple Heart was carefully
considered.  However, there is insufficient evidence to support this
contention.  By regulation, in order to award the Purple Heart it is
necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded in action, that the wound
required treatment by a medical officer, and the treatment record must have
been made a matter of official record.

2.  The evidence provides no confirmation that the applicant was
wounded/injured in action.  It does not show that the applicant received
injuries from chemical munitions.  His record is void of any documentary
evidence that shows he was treated for a wound sustained in action.  His
name is not included on the Persian Gulf Casualty Roster, the official DA
list of Persian Gulf battle casualties.

3.  It is noted that the 24 September 1993 memorandum from Joint Task
Force - Southwest Asia did not mention contact with a hostile force and the
applicant provided no other evidence that he or his unit came into contact
with hostile forces.  Although the veracity of the applicant's claim that
he sustained his injuries in the Persian Gulf is not in question, it is
possible he was exposed to the residuals of chemical use during Operation
Desert Storm two years earlier.

4.   Lacking any corroborating evidence of record showing that the
applicant was treated for a wound/injury that was the direct result of or
caused by enemy action, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support
award of the Purple Heart has not been satisfied in this case.  As a
result, his request for the Purple Heart must be denied in the interest of
all those who served in the Persian Gulf and who faced similar
circumstances.

5.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 5 February 1996.  Therefore, the time
for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or
injustice expired on 4 February 1999.  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

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_RJW___  __KWL __  __ DRT _  DENY APPLICATION





BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

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.





                                  __ Mr. Raymond J. Wagner __
                                            CHAIRPERSON

                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20040009350                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |16 June 2005                            |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Mr. Chun                                |
|ISSUES         1.       |                                        |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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