IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 26 August 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080009589
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.
2. The applicant states he was wounded during an ambush near Bearcat Base Camp, Long Binh, Republic of Vietnam in October 1967. The enemy fired on a truck in which he was a passenger. He was knocked off of the truck in the ensuing panic and his finger was "tangled in the trigger housing of [his] M-16 and crushed, when [he] hit the ground." A sergeant asked if he wanted to be "put in for a Purple Heart," but he was semi-conscious at the time and did not fully understand what he was being asked.
3. The applicant provides no additional documentation with his request.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army for 6 years on 5 August 1966 and served until 18 December 1972. He reenlisted on 19 December 1972 and served until 21 May 1974.
2. The applicant served in Vietnam during his initial enlistment period. He served in Vietnam as a cook from on/about 27 October 1967 to on/about 22 October 1968.
3. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show award of the Purple Heart in Item 41 (Awards and Decorations). It does not show he received any wounds in Item 40 (Wounds).
4. There are no orders in the applicant's records showing he was awarded the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart is not shown on his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
5. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty List. A search of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command (HRC), which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any Purple Heart orders on file for the applicant.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart (PH) is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that: (1) the wound was the result of hostile action; (2) the wound required medical treatment; and (3) the medical treatment was made a matter of official record. The regulation also provides that there is no statute of limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart.
2. There is no evidence in Army databases or in the applicant's record, nor has he provided any evidence to support his entitlement to the Purple Heart. He states he was knocked off of a truck by panicked fellow Soldiers during an ambush, and he suffered a crushed trigger finger. However, there is no evidence he was ever treated for his crushed finger, or that the treatment was made a matter of record.
3. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him during his service in Vietnam.
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 for correction of the records of the individual concerned.
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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