RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


	IN THE CASE OF:	  


	BOARD DATE:	  1 March 2007
	DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20060011760 


	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. Gerard W. Schwartz

Director

Ms. Joyce A. Wright 

Analyst


The following members, a quorum, were present:


Mr. Thomas M. Ray

Chairperson

Mr. Jeffrey C. Redman

Member

Mr. James R. Hastie

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, reconsideration of his earlier request to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) that he be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for a wound sustained in 1967, in Phu Bai, Vietnam, during a mortar attack.  He also states that the award was never given because they were in support of the 3rd Marine Division when they were attacked by mortars.  He was sent to a marine aid station for medical service.  They cut off a piece of loose skin and stitched the wound on his right forehead, then bandaged it.  They then sent him back to his unit.  The report may never have been sent back to his transportation unit.

3.  He also states that they were hit by a mortar attack in late October or early November.  The attack came in the afternoon and they were in a canvas covered hooch.  Three of them were wounded by shrapnel and there were eight or ten rounds that landed in their compound.  He was wounded in the head above the right eye.  When the attack subsided they were sent to the marine aid station as they did not have one.  A Navy Captain removed a flap of loose skin and sutured the wound.  He then bandaged the wound and returned him to duty.  A VAMC (Veterans Affairs Medical Center) surgeon later (1991) (sic) removed shrapnel from his forehead at VAMC, in Reno, Nevada.

4.  He states that his commander did not follow up on the award.  He did not follow up at the time because of the ghastly wounds of the Marines around them. He now believed that truck drivers that were wounded were as deserving as the infantry and marines.  He gave his service in Vietnam, was wounded, and should have been awarded the Purple Heart.

5.  The applicant provides a photograph of a Soldier with a bandage on his forehead; a copy of a progress note, from the Sierra, Nevada HCS (health care service); a copy of a progress note from his medical records; and a copy of an extract from his medical record, from the VAMC, in Reno, Nevada, in support of his request.






CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20050008829, on 28 February 2006.

2.  The Board concluded that there was no evidence in the available records which shows that the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.  In the absence of orders or other evidence of record showing that the applicant was injured or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, the photograph and DVA documentation provided by the applicant were not sufficient as a basis for an award of the Purple Heart.  Regrettably, there was insufficient evidence on which to base an award of the Purple Heart in this case

3.  The applicant's new argument, as stated in his request, is that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for a wound sustained in 1967, in Phu Bai, Vietnam, during a mortar attack.  He was in support of the 3rd Marine Division when they were attacked by mortars.  He was sent to a marine aid station for medical service and was returned to his unit.  A report was never sent back to his transportation unit and his commander never followed up on the award.  

4.  He also argues that they were hit by a mortar attack in late October or early November [1967].  Three of them were wounded by shrapnel and several rounds landed in their compound.  He was wounded in the head above the right eye.  He was sent to a marine aid station since they did not have one.  In 1990, a surgeon from the VAMC, in Reno, Nevada, removed shrapnel from his forehead. 

5.  The applicant provided a copy of a progress note, from the Sierra Nevada HCS (health care service), that was printed on 15 May 2006, which indicated that his only injury was a minor wound of the right scalp from a piece of shrapnel which was later removed under local anesthetic.   

6.  The applicant provided a copy of a progress note, from his medical records, which indicated that a foreign body was removed on 6 July 1990.

7.  The applicant provided a copy of an extract from his medical record, maintained at the VAMC (Veterans Affairs Medical Center), in Reno, Nevada.  It indicated "specimen (Received April 6, 1990  13:34): Foreign Body."


8.  The applicant provided a photograph of a Soldier with a bandage on his forehead. 

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

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  To be awarded the Purple Heart, substantiating evidence must be presented to show that the Soldier was wounded as the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  The applicant's new argument was considered by the Board.  However, there is no evidence, and the applicant has provided none, to show that he sustained a wound in 1967, in Vietnam, during a mortar attack or was later wounded in the head above the right eye in late October or early November 1967.  There is no evidence to show that his treatment at a marine aid station was made a matter of official record or that the wound he received was the result of hostile action.  He also argued that a surgeon later removed shrapnel from his forehead at VAMC, in Reno, Nevada, in 1990. 

3.  Documentation presented shows that shrapnel was removed under local anesthetic and that a foreign body was removed on 6 July 1990.  However, this evidence does not support a change in the Board's original decision to award the applicant the Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster even as lightly wounded in action or in any category. 

5.  The photograph provided by the applicant, which was also discussed in his previous proceedings, is also not sufficient as a basis for an award of the Purple Heart. 





BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_JCR____  __JRH__  ___TMR_  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20050008829, dated 28 February 2006.




_____Thomas M. Ray_____
          CHAIRPERSON




INDEX

CASE ID
AR20060011760
SUFFIX

RECON
YYYYMMDD
DATE BOARDED
20070301
TYPE OF DISCHARGE
HD
DATE OF DISCHARGE
19680420
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY
AR  635-200
DISCHARGE REASON

BOARD DECISION
DENY
REVIEW AUTHORITY

ISSUES         1.
107
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.