RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        19 OCTOBER 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050003045


      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:

|     |Ms. Barbara Ellis                 |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Hubert Fry                    |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Robert Rogers                 |     |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 a Purple Heart certificate, awarding him
the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 15 April 2004, but does not
include a permanent order number, be expunged from his Official Military
Personnel File (OMPF).  He also asks that Bronze Star Medal certificates,
one dated 11 May 2004 and the other dated 21 May 2004, also be expunged
from his OMPF.  His requests were submitted via three separate application
forms which have been consolidated into a single action.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, the Purple Heart certificate
duplicates another certificate contained in his file and that the
certificate in question does not reflect any permanent order number.  He
implies he is only entitled to one Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant also states the Bronze Star Medal certificates, dated 11
May and 21 May 2004, duplicate the original Bronze Star Medal awarded on 15
April 2004.

4.  The applicant states he does not wish to further clutter his OMPF with
orders revoking these various decorations.

5.  The applicant provides copies of the certificates he wishes to have
removed from his OMPF.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active
duty in 1991 and has served on continuous active duty.  He is currently
serving in pay grade E-7.

2.  The applicant was wounded in action on 15 February 2004 and awarded the
Purple Heart on 15 April 2004 by the Commander, Task Force All American.
The award was confirmed in orders number 132-13.  The award certificate is
filed in the applicant's OMPF.  A second Purple Heart certificate, which
does not contain a permanent order number, but suggests the applicant was
wounded a second time on 15 April 2004, is also contained in his OMPF.  It
is this duplicate certificate the applicant wishes to have removed.

3.  The applicant's OMPF also shows that he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal
for meritorious service during the period 3 September 2003 to 1 April 2004,
as a member of Task Force All American during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  The
award was presented on 15 April 2004 and confirmed in orders number 106-57.

4.  The applicant's OMPF contains two more Bronze Star Medal certificates,
one dated 11 May 2004 and the second dated 21 May 2004, which duplicate the

15 April 2004 award.  The citations and period of award are identical.

5.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that only one decoration will be
awarded to an individual for the same act, achievement, or period of
meritorious service.  It states that once an award has been presented, it
may be revoked by the awarding authority if facts subsequently determined
would have prevented original approval of the award had they been known at
the time.  Revocations of awards are announced in permanent orders and
require that the affected individual be informed that he or she has the
right to appeal the revocation.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant states that the 15 April 2004 Purple Heart certificate,
which contains no permanent order number, duplicates the earlier 15
February 2004 Purple Heart certificate.  There is no reason to doubt the
applicant or to believe that he was wounded on two separate occasions and
thus entitled to two awards of the Purple Heart.  It is also clear that the
11 May 2004 and 21 May 2004 Bronze Star Medal certificates contained in the
applicant's file are duplicates of the original Bronze Star Medal awarded
on 15 April 2004 and were never intended to suggest that the applicant was
awarded three separate Bronze Star Medal decorations.

2.  It is reasonable to conclude that had the awards authority been aware
that the applicant had already been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds
sustained on 15 February 2004, or that his meritorious service for the
period 3 September 2003 to 1 April 2004 had already been recognized by the
Bronze Star Medal awarded on 15 April 2004 the duplicate certificates would
not have been published.

3.  While procedures are outlined in Army Regulation 600-8-22 for the
revocation of awards, in this particular case it would be in the interest
of justice and equity for the Board to grant the relief requested.  The
Board could direct that the applicant contact the original award authority
to have the second Purple Heart and two additional Bronze Star Medals
revoked, however, such an action would merely result in three more
documents being filed in his OMPF to show that the duplicate awards were
revoked.  Such action could only serve to further confuse the situation,
and could in fact, create a further injustice in the applicant's OMPF by
implying that the applicant had awards revoked without an explanation that
the revocations were merely of duplicate awards.  As such, it would be
appropriate for the Board to expunge the 15 April 2004 Purple Heart
certificate which contains no permanent order number from the applicant's
file, which duplicates the 15 February 2004 Purple Heart award, and the
Bronze Star Medal certificates dated 11 May 2004 and 21 May 2004 which
duplicate the 15 April 2003 Bronze Star Medal award.

BOARD VOTE:

__BE ___  __HF____  __RR___  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.  As a result, the Board recommends that all
Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by
expunging the 15 April 2004 Purple Heart certificate which contains no
permanent order number from the applicant's file, which duplicates the 15
February 2004 Purple Heart award, and the Bronze Star Medal certificates
dated 11 May 2004 and 21 May 2004 which duplicate the 15 April 2003 Bronze
Star Medal award.




                                  ______Barbara Ellis________
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050003045                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051019                                |
|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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