IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 23 September 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080008343
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, award of the Purple Heart (PH).
2. The applicant states, in effect, that while serving in Iraq in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) the convoy she was riding in came under mortar attack causing injury to her spine. She also states that her unit failed to award her the PH for the injuries she sustained during combat action, and instead she was involuntarily discharged with severance pay. She further states she is now 70 percent disabled with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and requests award of the PH for the injuries she received as a result of combat action while serving in Iraq.
3. The applicant provides the following documents in support of her application: Separation Document (DD Form 214); Statement of Medical Examination and Duty Status (DA Form 2173); Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) Proceedings, dated 28 April 2005; Chronological Record of Medical Care (SF 600); and Medical Evaluation Board, dated 14 April 2005.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicantÂ’s record shows that on 12 June 2005, she was honorably discharged by reason of disability, with severance pay. The DD Form 214 issued to her at this time shows she completed a total of 3 years, 8 months, and 16 days of active military service.
2. Item 13 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's 12 June 2005 DD Form 214 shows she earned the following awards: Army Commendation Medal; Presidential Unit Citation (Army); Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; and Army Lapel Button.
3. The applicant's record show she was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) during the period 6 January 2003 through 28 July 2003.
4. The applicant's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) contains a Statement of Medical Examination and Duty Status (DA Form 2173), dated 24 September 2004. This document shows the applicant was wounded while serving in Iraq on
22 March 2003, and indicates that while under mortar attack, the convoy (C2V) she was in began traveling at a high rate of speed to prevent being struck by mortars and ran into the back of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, which caused the applicant to slam into the armrest resulting in the fracturing of her arm and ribs.
5. The applicant's OMPF also contains a Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) proceedings dated 20 April 2005, which shows that the PEB found the applicant physically unfit and recommended she be separated with severance pay with a disability rating of 10% for her chronic thoracic back pain without neurologic abnormality. The PEB further stated that the applicant's injury was directly related to armed conflict while serving in Iraq.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards. Paragraph 2-8 contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to awarding the PH. It states, in pertinent part, that in order to award a PH there must be evidence that the wound for which the
award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, that it required treatment by military medical personnel, and a record of this treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
7. Paragraph 2-8g of the awards regulation provides examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart. These examples include injury caused by vehicle or aircraft accident resulting from enemy fire.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contention of entitlement to award of the PH was carefully considered and found to have merit.
2. By regulation, injuries resulting from a vehicle accident while under enemy fire qualify for award of the PH. The evidence of record confirms the applicant was injured in a vehicle accident in Iraq that resulted from being under enemy fire, as evidenced by the DA Form 2173 on file. As a result, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the PH has been satisfied in this case.
BOARD VOTE:
___x____ ___x____ ___x____ 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 awarding her the Purple Heart, for being wounded in action in Iraq on 22 March 2003; by adding the Purple Heart to Item 13 of her 12 June 2005 DD Form 214; and by providing her a correction to her separation document that includes this change.
_______ _ 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.
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