IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 4 DECEMBER 2008
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080014669
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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), dated 10 June 2004, to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he was issued the Purple Heart on 12 December 2003, but it is not shown on his DD Form 214.
3. In support of his application, the applicant provides copies of a DA Form 4187 (Personnel Action) and 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's military records show he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in pay grade E-1 on 23 August 1999 for 8 years.
3. The applicant was ordered to and entered active duty on 10 February 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
4. The applicant submitted a copy of a DA Form 4187, dated 15 December 2003, wherein a personnel action was requested by his commander to award him the Purple Heart. The commander stated that on 10 December 2003 the 459th Transportation Company was returning from a convoy mission supporting the Stryker Brigade in the vicinity Al Taji, Iraq. The convoy came under attack by enemy forces utilizing an improvised explosive device (IED). The applicant was the co-driver of an M915A1 when the IED detonated, throwing shrapnel into the cab of the M915A1. The applicant suffered an injury from a piece of shrapnel that struck his face under the left eye. The shrapnel was embedded and required surgical removal. Specialist H_______ was also injured. The wounded Soldiers received medical treatment at Baghdad International Airport Troop Medical Clinic. The applicant was aero medically evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital and subsequently to Landstuhl, Germany. The applicant was being further evaluated to determine the extent of damage to the eye.
5. The applicant's records contain a certificate, dated 3 January 2004, awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action by Permanent Orders 003-27, dated 3 January 2004.
6. The applicant was released from active duty on 10 June 2004 and was transferred to a Reserve troop program unit. Entries on his DD Form 214, item 13 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized), lists the following awards: the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with "M" Device, and the Army Service Ribbon. The Purple Heart is not shown.
7. Item 18 (Remarks) of the applicant's DD Form 214 shows he served in Kuwait from 22 April 2003 to 22 May 2003 and in Iraq from 22 May 2003 to 10 December 2003.
8. A staff member of the Casualty Operations Division, Human Resources Command, Alexandria, Virginia, verified that the applicant was injured during an IED explosion on 10 December 2003 in the area outside of Iraq.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action to include injury caused by enemy placed IEDs. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The evidence shows that the applicant was wounded in action and was awarded the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart was not included on his DD Form 214 when he was released from active duty. He is therefore entitled to correction to his DD Form 214 to show this award.
2. In view of the foregoing, the applicants records should be corrected as recommended below.
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 adding the Purple Heart he received for being wounded in action on 10 December 2003 to his DD Form 214 and by providing him a correction to his separation document that includes this award.
___________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) AR20080014669
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