RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        10 January 2006
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20050005285


      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                 |     |Senior Analyst       |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. Kenneth L. Wright             |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. Dale E. DeBruler              |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Qawiy A. Sabree               |     |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 a second Purple
Heart, in effect, the Purple Heart, with oak leaf cluster, and the Combat
Infantryman Badge and, that these awards be added to his DD Form 214, Armed
Forces of the United States, Report of Transfer or Discharge.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded in approximately
December 1968 while capturing an ammunition cache.  The explosion burned
his face with second-degree burns and it burned off the corneas in both
eyes so that he was actually blind in both eyes for about ten days.  He was
in the hospital for ten days and his sight returned.  When his sight
returned, he was sent back to his unit with light duty for another 2 weeks
until his eyes healed some more.  He was then returned to full combat duty.

3.  The applicant submits a self-authored statement in support of his
request, along with a copy of his DD Form 214, a copy of a 1st Cavalry
Division Vietnam Combat Certificate, a copy of his award certificate for
the Purple Heart for wounds he received on 8 March 1969, and a copy of a
photograph he states is of himself and the entertainer, Gypsy Rose Lee.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged injustice, which
occurred on 23 September 1970.  The application submitted in this case is
dated 30 March 2005 but was received for processing on 7 April 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’s military records show he enlisted in the Regular Army
for 2 years on 27 May 1968.  He completed basic combat training at Fort
Dix, New Jersey, and his advanced individual training at Fort Polk,
Louisiana.  After completing all required training, he was awarded the
military occupational specialty (MOS), 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).

4.  The applicant served in Vietnam from 22 October 1968 through 10 March
1969, with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry
Division.

5.  On 18 March 1969, the applicant was medically evacuated from Vietnam to
the 249th General Hospital in Japan.  On 3 April 1969, the applicant was
further medically evacuated to Walson Army Hospital, Fort Dix, New Jersey,
for further hospitalization and treatment.

6.  Item 38 (Record of Assignments), of the DA Form 20, Enlisted
Qualification Record, shows he was reassigned to Walson Army Hospital, on
10 April 1969, in a patient status and was subsequently placed on the
permanent physical disability retired list.

7.  There is an entry in Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20
showing he received multiple fragmentation wounds to his left leg and to
his chest on 8 March 1969.

8.  A Standard Form 88, Report of Medical Examination, dated 13 February
1970, prepared for his appearance before a physical evaluation board, shows
the applicant had sustained fragmentation wounds and burns to the face,
left chest, left forearm, the pelvis, the left leg, and he had multiple
scars over his whole body.  The SF 88 listed ten other abnormalities that
came from his being wounded.

9.  The applicant was honorably discharged, on 23 September 1970, under
the provisions of Title 10, US Code Section 1201, and was placed on the
permanently disabled list with a 50% disability rating.  He was
discharged in the rank and pay grade of Specialist Four, E-4.  On the
date he was discharged, the applicant had completed 2 years, 3 months,
and 27 days active military service.

10.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and
Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214,
shows he was awarded:  the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam
Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

11.  The applicant was awarded the Purple Heart, by General Orders Number
2941, Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division, dated 9 March 1969.  This award
was not shown on the applicant's DD Form 214; however, it was added to the
DD Form 214, on 26 February 1991, by the US Army Reserve Personnel Center.

12.  There are no orders in the applicant's military personnel records
awarding him the Purple Heart, with oak leaf cluster.

13.  The applicant's name appears on the Vietnam Casualty List for the
wound he sustained on 8 March 1969; however, no other entries are shown to
support his statement that he was wounded in December 1968.

14.  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.

15.  While in Vietnam, the applicant participated in the following three
campaigns of the Vietnam War:  the Vietnam Counteroffensive, Phase V, which
extended from 1 July through 1 November 1968; the Vietnam Counteroffensive,
Phase VI, which extended from 2 November 1968 through 22 February 1969; and
the Tet 69 Counteroffensive, which extended from 23 February through 8 June
1969.

16.  Department of the Army (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 the
applicant's unit, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st
Cavalry Division, was awarded the Valorous Unit Award, for the period 7
through 11 March 1969, by Department of the Army General Order (DAGO)
Number 5, dated 1973; the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with Palm,
Unit Citation, for the period 9 August 1965 through 9 May 1969, by DAGO
Number 59, dated 1969; and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor
Medal, First Class, Unit Citation, for the period 1 January 1969 through
1 February 1970, by DAGO 42, dated 1972.

17.  The applicant was awarded the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge,
with Rifle Bar [M-14 Rifle], in Special Orders Number 194, Paragraph 83,
published by Headquarters, US Army Training Center, Infantry, Fort Dix, New
Jersey, on 12 July 1968.

18.  The applicant was awarded the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge,
with Automatic Rifle Bar [M-16 Rifle], in Special Orders Number 205,
Paragraph 72, published by Headquarters, US Army Training Center, Infantry,
Fort Dix, on 23 July 1968.

19.  The applicant was awarded the First Class Marksmanship Qualification
Badge with Machinegun Bar [M-60 Machinegun] in Special Orders Number 224,
Paragraph 255, published by Headquarters, US Army Training Center, Infantry
and Fort Polk, Fort Polk, Louisiana, on 4 September 1968.
20.  Army Regulation (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.

21.  AR 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat Infantryman
Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer
personnel 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 Total Army Personnel
Command [now the Human Resources 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.

22.  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.

23.  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 by
competent orders to, and 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 insufficient evidence to show that the applicant received
burns to his face in December 1968 from an explosion.

2.  The applicant alleges that he was in the hospital for 10 days to
receive treatment for the wounds he sustained in December 1968; however,
there is no other entry in the Vietnam Casualty List, besides the entry
showing he was wounded in action on 8 March 1969, to corroborate this
allegation.

3.  The applicant submitted a picture of an individual he claims to be him
and the entertainer, Gypsy Rose Lee, in a hospital bed, which was annotated
with the year 1968, on the back of the photograph.  This evidence is
inconclusive and does not support his request.

4.  The available evidence, a SF 88 that was prepared in preparation for
his appearance before a physical evaluation board, shows he received
multiple fragmentation wounds, including wounds to his face, in Vietnam, on
8 March 1969.  The applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for these wounds
and the Purple Heart was added to his DD Form 214.

5.  Because there is insufficient evidence that the applicant was wounded
in action, in December 1968, to support award of a Purple Heart, he is
therefore not eligible for award of a second Purple Heart, in effect, the
Purple Heart, with oak leaf cluster, and to have this award added to his DD
Form 214 on 26 February 1991.

6.  The evidence shows that the applicant held an infantry MOS and was
serving as an infantry rifleman.  He served in active ground combat while
assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller
size.  The applicant was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds he received as a
result of enemy action. He is therefore entitled to award of the Combat
Infantryman Badge, and to have it added to his DD Form 214.

7.  The Vietnam Service Medal is shown on the applicant's DD Form 214;
however, it does not show the bronze service stars to which he is entitled
for his campaign participation.  The applicant served in three campaigns
while he served in Vietnam.  He is therefore entitled to award of the
Vietnam Service Medal, with three bronze service stars, and to have this
award added to his separation document.

8.  The applicant served in a unit, which was awarded the Valorous Unit
Award; the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with Palm, Unit Citation;
and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class, Unit
Citation; while he was a member of the unit.  These unit awards are not
shown on his DD Form 214.  He is entitled to these unit awards and to
have them added to his DD Form 214.

9.  The applicant was awarded the Expert Marksmanship Qualification
Badge, with Rifle Bar; the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge, with
Automatic Rifle Bar; and the First Class Marksmanship Qualification
Badge, with Machinegun Bar.  These marksmanship qualification badges are
not shown on the applicant's DD Form 214.  He is entitled to have these
marksmanship qualification badges added to his DD Form 214.
BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

_KLW___  __DED___ _QAS __  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:

      a.  deleting the Vietnam Service Medal from the applicant's DD Form
214;

      b.  awarding the applicant the Vietnam Service Medal, with three
bronze service stars, to denote his campaign participation credit while
he served in Vietnam; the Combat Infantryman Badge; the Valorous Unit
Award; the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, with Palm, Unit
Citations, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First
Class, Unit Citation; and adding these awards to his DD Form 214; and

      c.  adding the already-awarded the Expert Marksmanship Qualification
Badge, with Rifle and Automatic Rifle Bar and the First Class Marksmanship
Qualification Badge, with Machinegun Bar; to the applicant's DD Form 214.

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
award of the Purple Heart, with oak leaf cluster, to the applicant and its
addition to his DD Form 214.




                            __       _Kenneth L. Wright____
                                      CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20050005285                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20060110                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |GRANT IN PART                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.  46   |107.0000                                |
|2.   61                 |107.0015                                |
|3.   157                |107.0111                                |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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