IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 03 SEPTEMBER 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080005755
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, in effect, reconsideration of his denial for award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicants request for reconsideration is submitted through his Congressman from Michigan. The Congressman requests, in effect, reconsideration of the applicants prior denial for award of the Purple Heart based on the applicants Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Rating Decision, dated
18 November 2005, which confirms that he sustained a chest wound from a shell fragment. The Congressman states that the applicant is displeased with the ABCMRs prior decision.
3. The applicant provides a letter, dated 27 February 2008, from a Member of Congress: an authorization letter, dated 9 February 2008, in which he authorized a Member of Congress to investigate and obtain records on his behalf; a DVA Rating Decision, dated 18 November 2005; and a portion of the proceedings from his previous request for award of, in part, the Purple Heart in support of this application.
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 AR20070005273, on 14 August 2007.
2. The applicant provided a rating decision, dated 18 November 2005, from the DVA which shows, in pertinent part, that he was granted compensation for a service-connected shell fragment wound to his chest wall that he sustained during the Vietnam era.
3. The applicant essentially stated that he never received the Purple Heart for his chest wound in Vietnam that he received right after he arrived in country. He also stated, in effect, that the Army is screwing with him because he has not been awarded the Purple Heart.
4. 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 wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have been treated by military medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official records. Each approved award of the Purple Heart must exhibit all of the following factors: wound, injury or death must have been the result of enemy or hostile act, international terrorist attack, or friendly fire; the wound or injury must have required treatment by military medical personnel; and the records of medical treatment must have been made a matter of official Army records.
5. Army Regulation 15-185 (Army Board for Correction of Military Records) prescribes the policies and procedures for correction of military records by the Secretary of the Army, acting through the ABCMR. This regulation provides that the ABCMR begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity. The applicant has the burden of proving an error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends that his request for award of the Purple Heart should be reconsidered.
2. The evidence provided by the applicant was carefully considered. However, notwithstanding the fact that the DVA awarded the applicant compensation for a service-connected shell fragment wound to his chest wall that he sustained during the Vietnam era, there is no evidence in the applicant's military records, and the applicant failed to provide any evidence which proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that this shell fragment wound was a result of hostile action. There is no evidence which conclusively shows that he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, that he was treated by medical personnel at the time for wounds or injuries sustained as a result of hostile
action, and that this medical treatment was made a matter of official record. Additionally, a search of the United States Army Human Resources Command Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, a web-based index containing roughly 611,000 general orders issued between 1965 and 1973 for the Vietnam era, failed to produce an order which awarded the applicant the Purple Heart. His name is also not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster, which suggests that his chest wound was not sustained as a result of hostile action.
3. In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
4. While the sincerity of the applicant's claim to entitlement to award of the Purple Heart is in question, regrettably, in view of the foregoing, there is insufficient basis upon which to award the applicant the Purple Heart.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
__XXX __ __XXX__ __XXX__ 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 AR20070005273, dated 14 August 2007.
___ XXX ___
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.
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