IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 13 August 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080008279
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 award of the Purple Heart due to an injury she received in Vietnam on 15 May 1967.
2. The applicant states that the U.S. Army refuses to acknowledge the injuries she incurred due to incoming enemy fire which resulted in injury to both of her legs. She alleges that the Army failed to keep accurate records, some of which were lost in the 1973 fire.
3. The applicant provides a supplemental letter, dated 23 April 2008; her letter, dated 15 January 1987; and a copy of her DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) for the period ending 25 March 1970.
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 applicants 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 applicants 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 appointed as a Reserve commissioned officer on 27 October 1966 in the rank of first lieutenant. She was ordered to active duty on 31 October 1966. She served in Vietnam from 23 March 1968 to 11 March 1969.
3. Her name is not included on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
4. A Chronological Record of Medical Care shows the applicant was treated at the 27th Surgical Hospital on 15 May 1968 because she had twisted her right knee going into bunker.
5. The applicant was released from active duty on 25 March 1970.
6. She was ordered to active duty in the Active Guard Reserve on 15 June 1980 and was released from active duty on 1 November 1984.
7. The applicant underwent a physical-for-retention examination on 7 November 1988. Her Report of Medical Examination (Standard Form 88) indicates she had high frequency hearing loss, retina repair, cartilage removed from her left knee, and patella removed from her right knee in Block 76 (Summary of Defects and Diagnoses). The examining physician determined that the applicant was qualified for retention with a physical profile of 112111.
8. She was retired and placed on the retired list on 22 January 1992 in the rank of lieutenant colonel.
9. 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 required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. Paragraph 2-8b(2) states that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy. The regulation states that the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury. The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
2. The applicants medical documents indicate she had surgery on her right knee. However, there is no evidence of record which verifies her injury was a result of hostile action in Vietnam. She provides no evidence, such as affidavits from individuals who were eyewitnesses to the incident or from members of her chain of command who were aware of the circumstances surrounding her injuries. Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___xx___ __xx____ ____xx__ 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.
_______xxxx _______ ___
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) AR20080008279
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080008279
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