IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  7 October 2008

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080012676 


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 and the Combat Infantryman Badge. 

2.  The applicant states that while he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 320th Artillery in the Republic of Vietnam, his last duty assignment was a forward observer (FO).  He also adds that he was wounded by sniper fire and lost the use of his eye and that he was awarded the Purple Heart, but it is not shown on his records nor was he ever given this honored medal. 

3.  The applicant did not provide any additional documentary evidence in support of his application. 

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 applicant’s 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 applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.
2.  The applicant's records show he enlisted into the Regular Army for a period of 3 years on 20 June 1966.  He completed basic combat and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 13A (Field Artilleryman).  He was subsequently awarded primary MOS 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman) on 31 October 1967.  The highest rank he attained during his military service was specialist four (SP4)/E-4.  He was placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL) on 9 May 1968 and permanently retired by reason of physical disability on 31 March 1972.

3.  The applicant’s records further show that he served in the Republic of Vietnam from 15 December 1966 to 13 December 1967.  During his Vietnam tour he was assigned as follows:

	a.  2nd Battalion, 320th Artillery, from 15 December 1966 to 15 September 1967, as a cannoneer (MOS 13A);

	b.  Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, from 31 July 1967 to 13 December 1967, as a security platoon rifleman (MOS 11B).

4.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), the Parachutist Badge, and the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar.  Item 24 of his DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart or the Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of the applicant’s DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show award of the Purple Heart or the Combat Infantryman Badge.  

6.  The applicant’s name is not shown on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.

7.  The applicant's records do not contain General Orders awarding him the Purple Heart or Special Orders awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge.

8.  During the processing of this case, a member for the Board staff reviewed 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.  This review failed to reveal any Purple Heart or Combat Infantryman Badge orders on file pertaining to the applicant.
9.  The applicant’s available medical records show that on 18 November 1967, while serving with the 2nd battalion, 320th Artillery, in support of E Company, Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, the applicant jumped out of a bunker, hitting himself with a stick in the left eye resulting in a vitreous and subretinal hemorrhage.  He was initially treated at the 8th Field Hospital in the Republic of Vietnam.  He was later transferred to Japan and was subsequently evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC, where he underwent a medical evaluation board (MEB) and a physical evaluation board (PEB) and was placed on the TDRL.

10.  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 by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry military occupational specialty (MOS).  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command (formerly known as the Total Army Personnel Command) has advised, in similar cases, that during the Vietnam era the Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11F, 11G, or 11H.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  With respect to award of the Purple Heart, there are no general orders that show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart, the applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster, and there is no evidence in his record that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.  In the absence of evidence that the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case. 

2.  With respect to award of the Combat Infantryman Badge, the evidence of record shows that the applicant performed duties of an infantryman during his service in the Republic of Vietnam.  However, there is no evidence that he was personally present and under hostile fire while serving in an assigned infantry or special forces primary duty, in a unit that actively engaged in ground combat with 
the enemy.  In the absence of sufficient evidence showing that he was directly involved in active ground combat, the applicant does not meet the criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____X___  ____X___  ___X___  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.



      __________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.

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080012676



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080012676



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