IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 14 May 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090000009
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 (Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he was a combat Soldier in an infantry unit in Vietnam and that his unit was in many battles which included mortar attacks, fire fights, and ambushes. He remembers one of the "border battles" that took place at Dak To Hill 875 and that it was a hard fought engagement with intense heavy contact which lasted until the fall of the year. He claims that he recently found out that he has shrapnel in his left shoulder.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214, a DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), and a Radiology Report in support of his 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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 15 March 1966 for a period of
3 years. He served as a light weapons infantryman in Vietnam from
20 November 1967 to 19 November 1968 and was released from active duty on
28 November 1968.
3. The applicants DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
4. There is no evidence in the available records which shows that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
5. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show entitlement to the Purple Heart and item 40 (Wounds) on his DA Form 20 is blank. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
6. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart.
7. In support of his claim, the applicant provided a Radiology Report, dated
8 February 2008. The report states a left shoulder x-ray shows there is a metallic foreign body overlying the applicant's mid clavicle. However, there is no evidence that this metallic foreign body is the result of hostile action.
8. 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:
There is no evidence of record which shows that the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. In the absence of orders or other evidence of record showing that the applicant was injured or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, the radiology report provided by the applicant is not sufficient as a basis for award of the Purple Heart. Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.
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.
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