IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 24 FEBRUARY 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080018339
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 that his military records be corrected to show the award of the Bronze Star Medal.
2. The applicant states that he received the Bronze Star Medal and has a copy of the citation, but that it was not listed on his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
3. The applicant provides his DD Form 214 and a Bronze Star Medal citation in support of this 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 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 that he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 8 October 1969. He completed basic and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). He began a tour in Germany on 6 April 1970 but later departed for the Republic of Vietnam on 9 November 1970, where he served with the 3d Battalion, 187th Infantry. He returned to the continental United States on 30 September 1971 and was honorably released from active duty on that date. The DD Form 214 that he was issued at the time of his release from active duty shows that he was awarded the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with M-14 Rifle Bar and M-16 Rifle Bar.
3. The applicant's military records do not show that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. There are no orders in his military records which awarded him the Bronze Star Medal. Although a search of the United States Army Human Resources Command Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, a web-based index containing roughly 611,000 general orders issued between 1965 and 1973 for the Vietnam era, produced two general orders for Soldiers with the same first and last name as the applicant, neither of these general orders pertained to the applicant.
4. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who distinguished himself or herself after 6 December 1941 by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. As with all personal decorations, formal recommendations, approval through the chain of command, and announcement in orders is required.
5. Army Regulation 15-185 (Army Board for Correction of Military Records) prescribes the policies and procedures for correction of military records by the Secretary of the Army, acting through the ABCMR. This regulation provides that the ABCMR begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity. The applicant has the burden of proving an error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends that his military records should be corrected to show the award of the Bronze Star Medal.
2. In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.
3. The sincerity of the applicant's claim that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal is not questioned. However, all awards of the Bronze Star Medal must be announced in official orders, which the applicant did not provide, and are not in his military records. Regrettably, absent orders awarding him the Bronze Star Medal, there is insufficient basis for correcting his military records to show this award.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
____X____ ___X_____ ___X_____ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. 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.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during the Vietnam War. The applicant and all Americans should be proud of his service in arms.
__________XXX_______________
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) AR20080018339
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080018339
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