IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  4 June 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080018226 


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 reconsideration of his request for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was actually awarded the Purple Heart by the brigade commander, a brigadier general, on 5 May 2007 prior to being medically evacuated from Iraq.  He goes on to state that the general pinned the medal on him, but he never received any paperwork to support the award.  He continues by stating that the Board in its previous decision overlooked the fact that his medical records show he had an annular tear of the L5-S1 disc and the fact that he was declared a battle casualty.  He also states that the casualty report contained an error indicating that he continued on the mission, when in fact, he was strapped to a backboard and was ground-evacuated to a treatment facility at Camp Ramadi.  In addition to his back injury, he also had paresthesias of all four extremities distally, a head injury with loss of consciousness, a bruise on the right posterior, and post concussive cephalgia.

3.  The applicant provides a two-page rebuttal of the previous decision of the Board, a two-page personal statement, a memorandum from the battalion command sergeant major confirming that he was ground-evacuated to Camp Ramadi for further evacuation and treatment, a copy of an Aeromedical Evacuation Patient Record, a copy of a Standard Form 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care), and various treatment records showing that he was administered various pain medications which included Fentanyl and Percocet.



CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20080010617 on 25 September 2008.

2.  On 3 May 2007, while conducting a route clearing mission in Iraq, the applicant was sitting in the passenger side front seat of the medical evacuation vehicle (Cougar B355) when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded under the driver's side front tire making the vehicle non-mission capable.  The unit medic moved the applicant to a Bradley Fighting Vehicle manned by the security escort and, while the convoy was getting turned around for return to base, he assisted in placing the applicant on a backboard for ground transport to a medical treatment facility.

3.  The subsequent casualty report that was dispatched indicates that the applicant sustained an injury to his lower back while conducting combat operations against hostile forces in the Anbar Province.  It also indicates that he was seen by the platoon medic and continued his mission.  Upon return to Camp Ramadi he was treated by competent medical authorities and was further medically evacuated to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group in Balad, then to Lanstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany, and then to Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington.

4.  On 11 March 2008, a physical evaluation board convened at Fort Lewis, Washington, found the applicant physically unfit, and recommended that he be permanently retired with a 30-percent disability rating.  He was diagnosed with degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine due to a traumatic onset of radiating neck pain in 2007, degenerative disease of the thoracolumbar spine, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

5.  Accordingly, he was honorably released from active duty on 30 April 2008 under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-40 (Physical Evaluation for Retention, Retirement, or Separation) due to permanent disability and was transferred to the Retired List in the pay grade of E-8.  His retirement orders specify that his disability resulted from a combat-related injury.

6.  On 16 June 2008, the applicant's company and battalion commanders submitted a DA Form 4187 (Personnel Action) requesting that the applicant be awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded in action on 3 May 2007.  The brigade commander (the same commander the applicant claims gave him a Purple Heart) approved the award.  However, there is no evidence that orders were ever published for that award.

7.  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.  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.

8.  Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) Command Policy Memorandum 04-01, dated 12 September 2004, subject:  MNF-I Wartime Awards Policy, provides, in pertinent part, that commanders in the rank of brigadier general and above who have troops committed to the combat operation and hospital commanders (not field hospital commanders) receiving casualties are delegated authority to award the Purple Heart to Soldiers who are wounded as the direct result of enemy action and are evacuated to their location.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  After carefully evaluating the evidence of record and the evidence submitted with his application, it appears that the applicant's request has merit.

2.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant was injured when an IED detonated under his Cougar vehicle and caused him to be pulled from the vehicle and placed on a backboard for ground evacuation to a medical treatment facility where he was placed on pain medications.  The applicant was subsequently retired by reason of permanent physical disability as a result of armed conflict and an instrumentality of war.

3.  Additionally, the applicant claims that his brigade commander pinned a Purple Heart on him before he was medically evacuated for further treatment and he has provided a DA Form 4187 signed by that commander approving the award of the Purple Heart.

4.  Although there is no evidence to show that orders were ever published awarding him the Purple Heart, the fact remains that the applicant met the criteria for the award of the Purple Heart and a commander with proper award authority, who was on the ground at the time, approved the award.

5.  Accordingly, it would be in the interest of justice to award him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action against the enemy in Iraq on 3 May 2007.

BOARD VOTE:

____X____  ____X____  ____X____  GRANT FULL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant amendment of the ABCMR’s decision in Docket Number AR20080010617, dated 25 September 2008.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action against the enemy in Iraq on 3 May 2007 while serving in the rank of master sergeant.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others to know that the sacrifices he made in service to the United States during the Global War on Terrorism are deeply appreciated.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.



      ____________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)                                         AR20080018226



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080018226



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