IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  5 March 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20080018251 


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, in effect, that he be awarded the Purple Heart and that it be added to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).

2.  The applicant's present Member of Congress (MOC) has asked that the Agency read the information the applicant has provided as evidence in support of his request and that it award him the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded on 14 April 1971 in the right hand in a rocket attack at Camp Carol, Vietnam.  He still carries the scars and has a deformed hand (fingers).  When he received his combat wound he had 8 stitches and metal removed.  Later he had a cast on for about 4 weeks.  The applicant states, in effect, when he needed help, his former MOC worked to get his service medical records but ended up in jail - prison and he never tried after that.

4.  In support of his request, the applicant submitted a copy of his DD Form 214, a copy of a DD Form 689 (Individual Sick Slip), a copy of a Standard Form (SF) 513 (Clinical Record - Consultation Sheet), and a copy of a Constituent Request for Service - Privacy Act Release he submitted to his MOC.

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 in the Regular Army on 17 February 1970.  He completed basic combat training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and his advanced individual training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  After completing all required training, he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 13A (Field Artillery Basic).

3.  The applicant served in Vietnam with Battery B, 6th Battalion, 32d Artillery Regiment from 21 July 1970 to 18 September 1971.

4.  The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 22 September 1971 under the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200 (Personnel Separations - Enlisted Personnel) as an overseas returnee.  He was released from active duty in the rank of specialist four (SP4)/pay grade E-4.  On the date he was released from active duty he had completed 1 year, 7 months, and 5 days active military service with no time lost.

5.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), the Good Conduct Medal, and two overseas service bars.

6.  No entry appears in Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record), to show he received a wound in action against a hostile force while he served in Vietnam.


7.  The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty List.  The applicant's name also does not appear on the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration's Casualty Information System which has the names of deceased, wounded, or ill or injured Army personnel, including dependents and civilian employees, recorded during the period from 1 January 1961 through December 1981.

8.  There is no entry in Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of the applicant's DA Form 20 showing he was awarded the Purple Heart.

9.  The DD Form 689, dated 4 April 1971, states in effect in the remarks section that the applicant had a possible broken right hand.  There is no indication or entry on the form that the injury was caused by hostile enemy action or rocket activity.

10.  The SF 513 the applicant submitted shows he was treated at the 483rd Air Force Hospital on 14 April 1971.  The reason for request (complaints and findings) of the form shows the entry, "Trauma – pain, slight swelling - 5th m.c. [metacarpal] area."  The attending doctor diagnosed the applicant as having a fracture of the right 5th metacarpal.  There is no indication on the form the injury was caused by hostile enemy action or rocket activity.

11.  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:

1.  To be awarded the Purple Heart, substantiating evidence must be presented to show that the applicant was wounded as a 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.

2.  The applicant stated in his request to the Board that he was wounded in an enemy rocket attack; however, the information entered on the DD Form 689 and the SF 513 does not corroborate his statement.




3.  The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty List.  The applicant's name also does not appear on the U.S. National Archives and 
Records Administration's Casualty Information System.  There are also no entries in his service personnel records that would indicate he was wounded in action as a result of enemy action.

4.  In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show, to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.

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)                                         AR20080018251



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20080018251



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