IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 17 JUNE 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080004380
THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:
1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).
2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).
THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant requests that Item 13 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his separation document (DD Form 214) be corrected to add the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he received minor shrapnel wounds sustained in combat due to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). He states that the blast tossed him violently inside his armored vehicle. He then exited his destroyed vehicle to assist in field triage on other members of his unit that were taking sniper fire. He found a safe haven in the field, where he self-treated his minor scratches. He further states the most noticeable wound was a small piece of shrapnel that was removed from his inner right bicep, which only broke the skin, but did not require stitches.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214, Camp Al-Tahreer Permanent Orders Number 277-01 dated 3 October 2004, and a Compensation and Pension Examination Note dated 30 January 2007. Also, attached are eight pictures labeled as the applicant's center chest, right bicep, forearm, and right and left buttocks.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant military personnel record shows he enlisted in the Regular Army on 28 November 2001. He completed the necessary training and was awarded the military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Infantryman). His DD Form
214 shows that he served in Djibouti, Africa during the period of 1 May 2003 to
15 October 2003 and in Iraq during the period of 10 June 2004 to 20 June 2005.
2. He was honorably discharged from active duty due to personality disorder on 11 August 2005. He completed 3 years, 8 months, and 14 days of Net Active Service This Period.
3. Item 13 of his DD Form 214 shows all the awards he was authorized. However, it does not show the award of the Purple Heart.
4. Camp Al-Tahreer Permanent Orders Number 277-01 dated 3 October
2004, shows the applicant was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.
5. The Compensation and Pension Note that the applicant submitted provides an overall synopsis of his overall medical conditions to include Posttraumatic Stress Disorder during his examination for compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. It noted that the applicant sustained a variety of minor shrapnel wounds that were treated in the field. He was in four different vehicles that were blown up by IEDs and RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades), but no one was killed during the incidents. There were eight pictures attached to this document that depicts what appear to be scratches or marks in various locations such as his center chest, right bicep, forearm, and right and left buttocks.
6. A review of the Iraq Casualty Files does not show the applicant's name listed among those wounded.
7. There are no medical records in the applicant's military personnel record, which shows that he was wounded in combat by shrapnel to his center chest, right bicep, forearm, and right and left buttocks.
8. 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 injury was the result of hostile action, the injury must have required treatment by military medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends that his Item 13 of his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show the Purple Heart.
2. There is no evidence in his available records which show he was wounded in combat by shrapnel to his center chest, right bicep, forearm, and right and left buttocks as a result of hostile action and was treated for his injury by medical personnel. Also, his name does not appear on the Iraq Casualty Files. Therefore, he is not entitled to correction of his records to show the Purple Heart.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__X_____ __X_____ ____X__ 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 to award the Purple Heart.
_________X______________
CHAIRPERSON
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080004380
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