IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 03 September 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080008320
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 his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) be corrected to show a second award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he be awarded two Purple Hearts.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214.
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 inducted into the Army of the United States on 15 July 1966. He completed training in military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman) during which he was awarded the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Machinegun Bar and the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar.
3. He was transferred to Vietnam where he served, first as a machine gunner and then as a team leader, with B Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade from 26 December 1966 to 13 December 1967. He returned to the United States and was released from active duty on 15 July 1968 and transferred to the United States Army Reserve in pay grade E-4.
4. Block 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Medals Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 lists the following: National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze service stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), Combat Infantryman Badge, Purple Heart, and the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14).
5. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) item 40 (Wounds) shows he sustained a fragment wound to the right hand on 20 January 1967. General Orders Number 18, Headquarters 12th Evacuation Hospital dated
21 January 1967 is cited in item 20 (Awards and Decorations) as the authority for award of the Purple Heart.
6. Another item 40 entry shows, "Frag left elbow
23Nov67."
7. There is no entry in any order contained in the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) pertaining to the applicant. There is no indication in his records that the Purple Heart was awarded for the wound sustained on 23 November 1967. His name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty List. His health records are not available.
8. General Orders Number 72 issued by the 197th Infantry Brigade, dated 9 July 1968, awarded the applicant the Good Conduct Medal.
9. Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), dated March 1965, paragraph 9-23, states, in pertinent part, that only wounds received through hostile or enemy action will be entered in item 40 of the DA Form 20.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states, in pertinent part, that the first oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of certain decorations, among which is the Purple Heart.
11. Department of the Army General Orders Number 8, dated 1974, authorized the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation for all units serving in Vietnam between 8 February 1962 and 28 March 1973.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. One Purple Heart was clearly awarded and it is listed on his DD Form 214.
2. The entry, "Frag left elbow
23Nov67" in item 40 of the applicant's DA
Form 20 would only have been entered by a personnel records clerk. A personnel records clerk would not have made such an entry in the absence of a source document, such as a casualty report or a morning report, which stated that the applicant had been wounded as the result of enemy action. Therefore, the applicant should be awarded a second Purple Heart.
3. The applicant was awarded the Good Conduct Medal.
4. The applicant was awarded the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Machinegun Bar.
5. The applicant is authorized the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation.
6. The above awards should be entered on his DD Form 214.
BOARD VOTE:
__XXX __ __XXX__ __XXX__ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:
a. awarding him the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster; and
b. correcting his DD Form 214 by deleting the Purple Heart and
adding the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Good Conduct Medal the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation Badge, and the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Machinegun Bar.
___ 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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