RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:            DECEMBER 2, 2004
      DOCKET NUMBER:    AR2004105654


      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. Luis Almodova                 |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Raymond J. Wagner             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Thomas E. O’Shaughnessy Jr.   |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Laverne V. Berry              |     |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, that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was injured while performing
service in Vietnam.  The applicant further states that he went to the
Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, to
prove that he had a scar where he was hit with a piece of shrapnel.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the
United States Report of Transfer or Discharge, in support of his request.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant’s military record shows that he enlisted in the Regular
Army on 22 July 1969.  He completed his basic combat training at Fort Knox,
Kentucky, and his advanced individual training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
After completing all required training, he was awarded the military
occupational specialty (MOS), 13A (Field Artillery Basic).

2.  The applicant was assigned to Vietnam and he arrived there on 17
December 1969.  He was assigned to Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 13th
Artillery, 25th Infantry Division.  The applicant served in Vietnam until
13 November 1970 when he was returned to the United States and assigned to
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to complete his military service obligation.

3.  The applicant was released from active duty on 23 July 1971, under the
provisions of Army Regulation (AR) 635-200, at the expiration of his term
of service, in the rank and pay grade of Specialist Five, E-5, with 1 year,
11 months, and 28 days, active military service.

4.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and
Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized), of his DD Form 214, shows he was
awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Marksman Marksmanship
Qualification Badge.  The Purple Heart is not shown among his awards.

5.  The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty List.

6.  There are no orders in the applicant's service personnel records to
show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  A search of the general orders
consolidation file maintained by the Awards Branch, Human Resources
Command, was made for orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart
however none were found.
7.  There is no entry in Item 41 (Awards and Decorations), of the
applicant's DA Form 20, Enlisted Qualification Record, showing he was
awarded the Purple Heart.  Item 40 (Brief Description of Wounds), of the
applicant's DA Form 20, is blank.

8.  The applicant's DD Form 214 shows entitlement to the Vietnam Service
Medal; however, it does not show the bronze service stars to which the
applicant is entitled for campaign participation.

9.  While in Vietnam, the applicant participated in the following three
campaigns:  the Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970, which extended from 1 November
1969 through 30 April 1970; the Sanctuary Counteroffensive, which extended
from 1 May through 30 June 1970; and the Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase
VII, which extended from 1 July 1970 through 30 June 1971.

10.  AR 600-8-22, in pertinent part, authorizes award of a bronze service
star, based on qualifying service, for each campaign listed in its Appendix
B and states that authorized bronze service stars will be worn on the
appropriate service medal, in this case, the Vietnam Service Medal.

11.  DA Pamphlet 672-3, Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit
Register, dated 29 January 1988, which lists unit awards received by units
serving in Vietnam, shows that the unit the applicant was assigned to,
Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 13th Artillery, 25th Infantry Division, was
awarded the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with Palm, Unit Citation,
for the period 1 April 1969 through 30 September 1970, by Department of the
Army General Orders 5, dated 1973, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil
Actions Honor Medal, First Class, Unit Citation, for the period April 1966
through 21 August 1970, by Department of the Army General Orders 51, 1971.

12.  AR 600-8-22 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:  a.) the wound was
the result of hostile action, b.) the wound must have required treatment,
and c.) the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official
record.

13.  AR 670-1, chapter 29, prescribes policy and guidance for wear of U.S.
and foreign unit awards.  This regulation states that a soldier may wear
the unit award permanently, if the individual was assigned to and present
for duty with the unit any time during the period cited; or was attached
to, by competent orders, and was present for duty with the unit, during the
entire period, or for at least thirty consecutive days of the period cited.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is no evidence in the applicant's service personnel records to
support his allegation that he was wounded as a result of hostile action in
Vietnam, that the wound required medical treatment, and that the medical
treatment was made a matter of official record.  The applicant is therefore
not eligible for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant participated in three campaigns during his tour of duty
in Vietnam.  He is therefore entitled to award of three bronze service
stars to be affixed to his already-awarded Vietnam Service Medal and to
have them shown on his separation document.

3.  The applicant served in a unit, Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 13th
Artillery, 25th Infantry Division, which was awarded the Republic of
Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with Palm, Unit Citation, and the Republic of
Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class, Unit Citation.  He is
therefore entitled to these unit awards and to have them added to his
separation document.

4.  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 2 of the BOARD
DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION section below.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

teo _____  rjw _____  rjw  _____  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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.  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 the applicant:

      a. was awarded three bronze service stars to be affixed to his already-
awarded Vietnam Service Medal;


      b. was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with Palm,
Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First
Class, Unit Citation; and to add the above awards to his DD Form 214.




            ____Raymond J. Wagner____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR2004105654                            |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20041202                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  46   |107.0000                                |
|2.  61                  |107.0015                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |



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