IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 29 January 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20080018800
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, to be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he desires to be awarded a Purple Heart for war wounds he received.
3. The applicant provides a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision verifying his VA benefits in support of his request.
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 record shows he was inducted in the Army of the United States on 31 January 1968. After completion of basic combat training and advanced individual training the applicant received the military occupational specialty 11C, Indirect Fire Infantryman.
3. The applicant served in Vietnam from 8 July 1968 to 12 May 1969. He continued to serve until he was honorably released from active duty on 30 January 1970.
4. The applicant's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with 2 bronze service stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), two overseas service bars, and the Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14). His DD Form 214 does not show any additional awards.
5. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicants DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show that the applicant received any wounds that were recorded.
6. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of the applicants DA Form 20 does not show that he received a Purple Heart.
7. There are no orders in the applicant's available personnel records which show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.
8. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster for wounds received as a result of hostile action.
9. The Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System failed to show that orders were published awarding the applicant the Purple Heart.
10. 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 Soldier was wounded as the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
2. The applicant is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster and there are no medical records available to show that he was treated for a wound he may have received as a result of hostile action. Therefore, there is an insufficient basis upon which to approve an award of the Purple Heart.
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) AR20080018800
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20080018800
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100026097
His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) from 6 June 1966 to 4 June 1967, and from 14 February through 15 May 1968. This document does not show that the applicant was wounded in action. Notwithstanding the staff DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS above, the Board believed that there was sufficient evidence to show the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile fire action.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110008303
The preponderance of evidence in this case does not show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. If the applicant can provide corroborating evidence to show he was wounded as a result of enemy action and treated for those wounds (e.g., service medical records) he may request reconsideration. _______ _ 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.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110018293
Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). In accordance with the regulation, in order to award the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded in action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the treatment must have been made a matter of official record. In the absence of evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is an insufficient basis upon which to base...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | AR20080016915
The applicant provides no additional documentary evidence. A thorough review of the applicants military personnel records revealed that there are no orders in the applicants records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart. There is no evidence in the applicants military personnel records that shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action; his DA Form 20 does not show an entry in item 40 or list the Purple Heart in item 41; the applicant's name is not listed...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2008 | 20080014133
Headquarters, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, General Orders Number 2097, dated 25 April 1969, show the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam on 31 March 1969. 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...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100007426
He did not receive the Purple Heart for his wounds. The applicant's official military medical records are not available for the Board's review. b. U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) stated the authority to award the Purple Heart was delegated to hospital commanders.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2012 | 20120008129
However, nothing in six typical sources shows he was wounded in action or awarded the Purple Heart: * Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not reflect a combat injury * Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of this form does not list the Purple Heart * His complete medical records are not available for review with this case; his separation physical does not reflect a combat injury or wound * His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty roster. Although he...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110005101
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 AR20080009487 on 13 August 2008. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with "V" Device for heroism on 22 August 1968. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2009 | 20090012068
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 AR20080009738, on 16 December 2008. The applicant provided a copy of a letter from a combat medic who stated that as a medic in the Republic of Vietnam, he remembered the applicant being wounded by shrapnel. In the absence of medical records that show the applicant was treated for...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100019110
The applicant requests correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in the Republic of Vietnam. Notwithstanding the witness statement, there is no evidence of record or corroborating medical documentation to support award of the Purple Heart in this case. ____________X____________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the...