RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:      8 February 2007
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060010948


      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. Jeffrey C. Redmann            |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Mr. David K. Haasenritter         |     |Member               |
|     |Mr. Ronald D. Gant                |     |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 should have received the
Purple Heart because he was wounded in combat by a mine.  He was wounded in
the left arm and hand on 5 March 1969 and was treated in Lei Kei by a medic
named, J----- D-----.  It was his own fault he did not receive the Purple
Heart.  He refused the Purple Heart because of his parents.  They were both
sick and he did not want them to be upset.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the
United States, Report of Transfer or Discharge, and a copy of two DD Form
215s, Correction to DD Form 214, in support of his request.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is requesting correction of an alleged error or injustice
which occurred on 18 November 1969.  The application submitted in this case
is dated 28 July 2006.

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’s military records show that he was inducted into the
Army of the United States on 7 May 1968.  He completed his basic combat and
his advanced individual training at Fort Ord, California.  After completing
all required training, he was awarded the military occupational specialty
(MOS), 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).

4.  The applicant was reassigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, to undergo
Student Noncommissioned Officer Training
5.  The applicant was assigned to Vietnam.  He arrived there on 3 January
1969. He was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion (Mechanized), 16th
Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.  The applicant served in Vietnam
with this unit until 27 September 1969 when he was authorized emergency
leave to the United States.  There is no evidence the applicant returned to
Vietnam.

6.  The applicant was discharged from active duty on 18 November 1969,
under the provisions of Army Regulation (AR) 635-200, Chapter 6, for
hardship reasons. He was discharged from active duty in the rank and pay
grade of Specialist Four, E-4, with 1 year, 7 months, and 10 days active
military service, with no time lost.

7.  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 "(NDSM)   MM (MACHINE GUN) (M-60)   (VNCM) P.H.
(1ST AWD)."

8.  On 10 June 1994, the US Army Reserve Personnel Center, St. Louis,
Missouri, updated Item 24 of the applicant's DD Form 214.  Abbreviations
were spelled out and other awards were added.  The DD Form 215 shows he was
awarded the National Defense Service Medal; the Vietnam Service Medal, with
three bronze service stars; the Combat Infantryman Badge; the Republic of
Vietnam Campaign Medal, with Device (1960); the Sharpshooter Marksmanship
Qualification Badge, with Rifle Bar; the Marksman Marksmanship
Qualification Badge, with Automatic Rifle Bar; the Republic of Vietnam
Gallantry Cross, with Palm, Unit Citation; and the Republic of Vietnam
Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class, Unit Citation.

9.  On 8 April 1995, the Deputy Director, Veterans Services, US Army
Reserve Personnel Center, St. Louis, updated Item 24 of the applicant's DD
Form 214 and added the Army Commendation Medal.

10.  There are no orders in the applicant's service personnel records to
show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  There is no entry in Item 41
(Awards and Decorations), of the applicants DA Form 20, showing that he was
awarded the Purple Heart.  The applicant's name does not appear on the
Vietnam Casualty List.

11.  There is extensive evidence in the applicant's service personnel
record of his efforts to have the Purple Heart issued to him, including
correspondence directed
to (then) President Clinton.  A review of all available records and
documents

which could have resolved his contention that he was wounded in Vietnam was
conducted.  These records included retired organizational records, his
service personnel records, and morning reports.  These records failed to
show the applicant was wounded in Vietnam.

12.  A morning report for the applicant's unit for 4 May 1969 shows he
and six other Soldiers were departed from duty at their unit to Company
D, 1st Medical Battalion, at 1300 hours, on 4 May 1969.  The reason for
their departure to the hospital is not shown and their absence was
determined to be, "in the line of duty."

13.  All Soldiers whose names appear on the same entry in the morning
report for the unit on 4 May 1969 who were departed to the hospital, were
searched for on the Vietnam Casualty List.  Only one of the Soldiers was
wounded in action in Vietnam; however, this Soldier, Private First Class L--
--- K----, was wounded in action on 12 September 1969.

14.  The applicant's service medical records were not available for the
Board's review.  These records were loaned to the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA), Los Angeles Regional Office (RO), on 10 March 1975.  The VARO
was contacted for return of a 1969 clinical record pertinent to the
applicant, but they were unable to locate any medical records in the
applicant's claim folder.  A Telephone Contact Report prepared on 12 August
1998 shows the claim file was reported to have been lost in 1990.

15.  The applicant had "excellent" conduct and efficiency ratings
throughout his time in the Army.  There is no evidence of indiscipline or a
breach of good order while he served on active duty.  There is no record
that he was subjected to either nonjudicial punishment or to court-martial.
 There is no entry in Item 42 (Remarks), of the applicant's DA Form 20,
Enlisted Qualification Record, to indicate that he was disqualified from
award of the Good Conduct Medal.

16.  AR 672-5-1, in effect at the time of the applicant's separation
provides that the Good Conduct Medal is awarded to individuals who
distinguish themselves by their conduct, efficiency and fidelity during a
qualifying period of active duty enlisted service.  This period is 3 years
except in those cases when the period for the first award ends with the
termination of a period of Federal military service.  Although there is no
automatic entitlement to the Good Conduct Medal, disqualification must be
justified.  To be eligible for award of the Good Conduct
Medal, soldiers must meet all of the following criteria:  all conduct
(character) and efficiency ratings must be recorded as "Excellent" except
that ratings of
"Unknown" for portions of the period under consideration are not
disqualifying.  Service school efficiency ratings based upon academic
proficiency of at least "Good" rendered subsequent to 22 November 1955 are
not disqualifying.

17.  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.  This regulation also provides that there is no statute of
limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

18.  The ABCMR has a policy that it will not take action to take away
medals that were entered on a separation document no matter the mistaken
conditions under which they were entered.  The Board will also not amend
separation documents to add awards to which the applicant has not proven,
by a preponderance of the evidence that he is entitled to.

19.  AR 635-5 prescribes the separation documents that must be prepared for
Soldiers on retirement, discharge, release from active duty service, or
control of the Active Army.  It establishes standardized policy for
preparing and distributing the DD Form 214.  Paragraph 2-7.a(3) of this
regulation prescribes that when two DD Forms 215 have been issued and an
additional correction is required, the DD Form 214 will be reissued.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Despite the entry, "P.H. (1ST AWD)," which is shown in Block 24, of the
applicant's DD Form 214, there is no evidence, and the applicant has
provided none, to show that he was wounded on 5 March 1969 in the left arm
and hand by a mine while he served in Vietnam.

2.  Extensive reviews of records and documents which might have
corroborated the applicant's contention he was wounded in Vietnam have
been conducted.  The applicant's name is not on the Vietnam Casualty List
and entries were not found on the retired organizational records about the
applicant having been wounded.  There are no orders in his service
personnel records awarding him the Purple Heart, and an entry was found in
a morning report showing he was departed to the 1st Medical Battalion and
hospitalized, "in the line of duty", on 4 May 1969.


3.  The applicant stated he was wounded by a mine on 5 March 1969 and he
was hospitalized on 4 May 1969.  There appears to be no correlation between
the dates and his contention to being wounded on 5 March 1969.

4.  The facts and circumstances related to how and why the entry, "P.H.
(1ST AWD)", was made on his DD Form 214 are not known but it appears the
entry may have been made through administrative error.  Nonetheless, the
ABCMR's policy will be invoked and it will not take action to take away
medals (including in this case, the Purple Heart) which may have been
entered on the separation document in error.

5.  The applicant consistently had "Excellent" conduct and efficiency
ratings throughout his active duty service.  He attained the rank and pay
grade of Specialist Four, E-4, and there is no record of lost time in his
service personnel records.  The applicant earned the Army Commendation
Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge, on the battlefield in Vietnam.
Based on this excellent record of service and achievement, he is eligible
for award of the Good Conduct Medal for the period 7 May 1968 through 18
November 1969 and to have it added to his DD Form 214.

6.  Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error or
injustice now under consideration on 18 November 1969; therefore, the time
for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or
injustice expired on
17 November 1972.  Although the applicant did not file within the ABCMR's
3-year statute of limitations, it is appropriate to waive failure to timely
file based on the fact there is no statute of limitations on requests for
award of the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

__RDG__  _JCR ___  __DKH__  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.  awarding the applicant the Good Conduct Medal for the period 7
May 1968 through 18 November 1969 and adding this award to his DD Form 214;
and

      b.  voiding the applicant's DD Form 214 and two previously issued DD
Forms 215 and reissuing the applicant a separation document showing all his
authorized awards and decorations, in accordance with Army Regulation 635-
5, and the contents of this Record of Proceedings.

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 not validating award of the Purple Heart to the
applicant, but allowing it to remain in Item 24, of his DD Form 214, by
invoking the ABCMR policy that it will not take action to take away medals
that were entered on a separation document no matter the mistaken
conditions under which they were entered.




                            _____Jeffrey C. Redmann_______
                                      CHAIRPERSON


                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20060010948                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20070208                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)    |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |YYYYMMDD                                |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |AR . . . . .                            |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |PARTIAL GRANT                           |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |                                        |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0000                                |
|2.                      |107.0015                                |
|3.                      |                                        |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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