RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:          29 November 2005
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050004911


      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. Wanda L. Waller               |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Stanley Kelley                |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Melvin Meyer                  |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. LaVerne Douglas               |     |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 award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he sustained a back injury as a result
of a land mine exploding underneath his vehicle in March 1991 during
Operation Desert Storm.  He contends he sought medical treatment the next
morning.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of
Release or Discharge from Active Duty); an award certificate for the Army
Commendation Medal; a request for Line of Duty (LOD) Determination, dated 6
March 1997; his DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record); and service
personnel records.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error which
occurred on 30 April 2001.  The application submitted in this case is dated
28 March 2005.

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 requested, in effect, that his Army Commendation Medal be
upgraded to the Bronze Star Medal.  In the absence of a proper award
authority for this decoration, the applicant may request that his Army
Commendation Medal be upgraded to the Bronze Star Medal under the
provisions of Section 1130 of Title 10, United States Code.  The applicant
has been notified by separate correspondence of the procedures for applying
for this decoration under Section 1130 and, as a result, they will not be
discussed further in this Record of Proceedings.

4.  The applicant entered active duty on 29 November 1977.  He served in
Southwest Asia from 11 October 1990 through 4 April 1991.  On 30 April
2001, the applicant retired in the rank of sergeant first class after
completing over
23 years of active service.

5.  The applicant’s DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an
authorized award.

6.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the applicant’s service
personnel records.

7.  The applicant provided a request for Line of Duty Determination, dated
6 March 1997, from William Beaumont Army Medical Center, El Paso, Texas,
which indicated that he was undergoing Medical Evaluation Board (MEB)
processing with planned referral to the Physical Evaluation Board.  It also
shows the applicant injured his back in 1991 in Iraq when he was a
passenger in a military 5-ton fuel truck that drove over a land mine.

8.  The applicant's MEB shows he was diagnosed with mechanical lower back
pain and states, in pertinent part, that "Five years ago, while driving a
truck, he drove over a land mine, which exploded and caused an axial load
on his spine." was the history of his present illness.

9.  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.  The regulation also states that an injury caused by an
enemy placed mine or trap is an example of an enemy-related injury that
would clearly justify an award of the Purple Heart.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

Medical evidence of record shows the applicant injured his back as the
result of a land mine explosion in Iraq in 1991.  It is reasonable to
presume that the enemy placed the land mine that injured the applicant.
Therefore, there is sufficient evidence on which to base award of the
Purple Heart in this case.

BOARD VOTE:

SK_____  _MM____  _LD_____  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 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:

      a.  awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in
March 1991 in Iraq; and

      b.  amending his DD Form 214 to add award of the Purple Heart.



            ____Stanley Kelley____
                    CHAIRPERSON




                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050004911                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20051129                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT                                   |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |                                        |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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