RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


      IN THE CASE OF:


      BOARD DATE:        14 February 2008
      DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20070015519


      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.

|     |Ms. Catherine C. Mitrano          |     |Director             |
|     |Mrs. Nancy L. Amos                |     |Analyst              |

      The following members, a quorum, were present:

|     |Mr. John T. Meixell               |     |Chairperson          |
|     |Ms. Carmen Duncan                 |     |Member               |
|     |Ms. Rea M. Nuppenau               |     |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, the Combat Medical
Badge, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  The applicant states that he received an injury caused by an enemy-
placed mine or trap; that he received concussion injuries caused by
explosions; that he received a cervical injury while on a Navy ship off
Iran; and that he tore the cartilage in his right knee in 1991 in Iraq.

3.  The applicant provides medical records, dated February 1969; a DD Form
214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) for
   the period ending 12 March 1970; two DD Forms 214 (Report of Separation
from Active Duty), one for the period ending 15 August 1975 and one for the
period ending 7 April 1978; two Navy medical documents, one dated 15 June
1981 and one dated 12 May 1981; a DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or
Discharge from Active Duty) for the period ending 21 May 1991; and a
letter, dated            12 September 2006, from Lakewood Behavioral Health
Associates.

4.  The applicant also provides a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Form
   21-4138 (Statement in Support of Claim); an undated statement; a
recommendation for promotion, dated 21 December 1990; a copy of his drivers
license and his social security card; a document, possibly intended as a
fax coversheet, dated 9 September 2006; a letter, dated 22 August 2006,
from the Arkansas Army National Guard (ARARNG); an internet printout on
post-traumatic stress disorder; a handwritten listing of medications; and a
letter, dated 22 May 2001, from the VA.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  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 also allows the
Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an
applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations
if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so.
While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided
in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a
substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is
granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the
applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are
insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 13 March 1968.  He
completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was
awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).

3.  The applicant’s Official Military Personnel Records contain a copy of a
DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record).  This document is not signed,
but it contains several recently erroneous entries.  For example, item 33
(Appointments and Reductions) shows he was promoted from E-1, to E-2, to E-
3, to E-4, and to E-5. However, the entry for E-5 has been changed from
“SGT E5(P)” to read “MSGT E8(P).”  Item 2 (Grade) was changed to read “MSGT-
E8.”  Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) lists an award that did not exist
until 1981 (the Army Achievement Medal), and lists the Army Good Conduct
Medal for an ending period 2 years after the applicant was released from
active duty and for a 4-year period.

4.  Item 31 (Foreign Service) of the DA Form 20 also does not show that the
applicant served in Vietnam.  Item 38 (Record of Assignments) shows he was
assigned to Fort Carson, CO from 9 August 1968 through 12 March 1970.  Item
41 does not list any awards from Vietnam, such as the Vietnam Service
Medal.

5.  Item 5 (Oversea Service) of the applicant’s DA Form 2-1 (Personnel
Qualification Record), which he signed on or about 20 March 1993 and last
reviewed on  December 1997, does not show that he served in Vietnam or show
that he received any awards from Vietnam.

6.  The applicant provided copies of service medical records, dated
February 1969.  These documents show that, on 4 February 1969, he sustained
a tear of a 2x2 cm in diameter portion of the tip of his nose; a lip
laceration; and a fracture of the spina of the maxilla (upper jaw) without
displacement while going through Viet Cong Village (training) demonstration
on Fort Carson that day.  He was hospitalized that day at Fort Carson, CO
and his nose was repaired.

7.  The applicant’s name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.

8.  The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 12 March 1970.
 His DD Form 214 for the period ending 12 March 1970 shows he was awarded
only the National Defense Service Medal.

9.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Navy on 16 August 1973 and was
honorably discharged on 15 August 1975.

10.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Navy on 9 April 1976 and was
honorably discharged on 7 April 1978.

11.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Navy on 2 November 1979.

12.  The applicant provided a Navy medical record, dated 30 June 1981, that
shows he injured his back about January 1980 when he was hit in the back
with about a 50-pound produce crate.

13.  The applicant was honorably discharged from the Navy on 12 March 1982.

14.  On 17 July 1990, the applicant enlisted in the ARNG.  He was ordered
to active duty on 21 November 1990 as a medical specialist in support of
Operation Desert Shield.

15.  The applicant provided a recommendation for promotion, dated
        21 December 1990, that shows he was assigned to the 148th
Evacuation Hospital during Operation Desert Storm/Shield.

16.  The applicant was released from active duty on 21 May 1991.

17.  The applicant was discharged from the ARNG on 1 September 1991 and
transferred to the U. S. Army Control Group (Reinforcement).  He enlisted
in the ARNG on 2 March 1996 and was honorably discharged from the ARNG and
as a Reserve of the Army on 1 June 2000.

18.  In a VA Form 21-4138, the applicant submitted a Notice of Disagreement
that, in part, he was denied service connection for diabetes mellitus.  He
stated that he was in Vietnam and exposed to Agent Orange.

19.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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 by a
medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of
official record.

20.  Army Regulation provides for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to
a Soldier who is an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties,
who is assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged
in active ground combat, and who actively participates in such ground
combat.  Campaign or battle credit alone is not sufficient for award of the
CIB.

21.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the intent behind the creation of the
Combat Medical Badge was to act as a "companion" badge to the Combat
Infantryman Badge with criteria for its award intended to parallel that of
the Combat Infantryman Badge (established during World War II to provide
special recognition of the unique role of the Army infantryman, the only
Soldier whose daily mission is to close with and destroy the enemy and to
seize and hold terrain).  Its evolution stemmed from a requirement to
recognize medical aidmen who shared the same hazards and hardships of
ground combat on a daily basis with the infantry Soldier.  At the time, it
could be awarded to officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men of the
Medical Department assigned or attached to the medical detachment of
infantry regiments, infantry battalions, and elements thereof designated as
infantry.

22.  Title 10, U. S. Code, section 1552 states the Secretary of a military
department may correct any military record of the Secretary’s department
when the Secretary considers it necessary to correct an error or remove an
injustice.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contended that he received an injury caused by an enemy-
placed mine or trap and concussion injuries caused by explosions when he
was injured, in effect, in Vietnam.  However, the February 1969 medical
documents he provided show that he was at Fort Carson, CO when he was
injured during a Viet Cong Village (training) demonstration.  Since those
injuries were not the result of enemy action nor were they incurred while
he was in a combat zone, those injuries do not meet the eligibility
criteria for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant contended that he received a cervical injury while on a
Navy ship off Iran.  The ABCMR has no authority to correct his records to
show he met the eligibility criteria for award of the Purple Heart for
injuries received while he was in the Navy.  However, it is noted that the
Navy medical record he provided shows he injured his back about January
1980 when he was hit in the back with about a 50-pound produce crate, not
as the result of enemy action.

3.  The applicant contended that he tore the cartilage in his right knee in
1991 in Iraq.  However, he did not explain how the injury was incurred nor
did he provide any evidence to show how he was injured or that he received
treatment for such an injury.  Therefore, there is insufficient evidence
that would warrant awarding the Purple Heart for injuries received in 1991.

4.  The applicant requested award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  He was
an infantryman during his first tour of duty of active duty with the Army.
However, the evidence of record shows that he was not assigned to Vietnam
or any other combat area during that first tour of active duty, and he was
not an infantryman during his second tour of active duty with the Army.
Therefore, there is insufficient evidence that would warrant awarding him
the Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  The applicant requested award of the Combat Medical Badge.  He was a
medical specialist when he served during Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
However, the evidence he provided shows he was assigned to the 148th
Evacuation Hospital.  The Combat Medical Badge was intended to recognize
medical aidmen who shared the same hazards and hardships of ground combat
on a daily basis with the infantry Soldier.  At the time, it could be
awarded to officers, warrant officers, and enlisted men of the Medical
Department assigned or attached to the medical detachment of infantry
regiments, infantry battalions, and elements thereof designated as
infantry.  The applicant’s assignment to a medical evacuation hospital did
not meet the eligibility criteria for award of the Combat Medical Badge.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__jtm____  __cd____  __rmn___  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 for correction of the
records of the individual concerned.




                                  __John T. Meixell_____
                                            CHAIRPERSON



                                    INDEX

|CASE ID                 |AR20070015519                           |
|SUFFIX                  |                                        |
|RECON                   |                                        |
|DATE BOARDED            |20080214                                |
|TYPE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DATE OF DISCHARGE       |                                        |
|DISCHARGE AUTHORITY     |                                        |
|DISCHARGE REASON        |                                        |
|BOARD DECISION          |DENY                                    |
|REVIEW AUTHORITY        |Ms. Mitrano                             |
|ISSUES         1.       |107.0015                                |
|2.                      |107.0111                                |
|3.                      |107.0113                                |
|4.                      |                                        |
|5.                      |                                        |
|6.                      |                                        |


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