IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 12 November 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080013880
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, in effect, that he was never put in for the Purple Heart or told that he could have received one for being hurt by enemy fire during an ambush/attack by the Viet Cong on 20 March 1968 in Vietnam.
3. The applicant provides a 1968 service medical treatment record; a statement from a fellow Soldier at the time in question, dated 24 April 2008; and a copy of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
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 on 6 September 1966. He served in Vietnam from 7 August 1967 through 3 August 1968 and was released from active duty on 4 August 1968.
3. The applicants DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
4. There is no evidence in the available records which shows that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
5. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show entitlement to the Purple Heart and item 40 (Wounds) on his DA Form 20 is blank. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
6. In support of his claim, the applicant provided a service medical treatment record for the period of 27January1968 through 24 March 1968 which shows he was treated a laceration between the knuckles of the second and third fingers of his left hand on 21 March 1968. However, there is no evidence of record which shows this laceration was the result of hostile action in Vietnam.
7. The applicant also provided a statement, dated 24 April 2008, from a fellow Soldier at the time in question. The fellow Soldier attests that in March 1968 their convoy received mortar fire while returning from Long Than. The applicant had a small cut on one of his fingers when he returned to camp in his truck. The following morning his hand was swollen and he was taken to the medics. The medics removed a small piece of metal from the applicants hand.
8. 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
There is no evidence of record which shows that the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. The service medical treatment record provided by the applicant does not show that his laceration was the result of hostile action. In the absence of orders or other evidence of record showing that the applicant was injured or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, the statement from the fellow Soldier provided by the applicant is not sufficient as a basis for award of the Purple Heart. 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
____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.
________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.
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