IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 7July 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090002367
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 award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he was on a temporary record when he was shipped to the Republic of Vietnam where he served for four months and was injured in combat. He was then sent to Korea because his father, a command sergeant major, was also sent to Vietnam. He adds that he was wounded in his left leg during the first week of March 1969 when his infantry unit was supporting an artillery unit at Landing Zone (LZ) Bass outside Kontum City. He was sent to a local field hospital where he was treated and sent back to the field. He received his Combat Infantryman Badge but not the Purple Heart.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), dated 12 March 1970; his original Social Security Card; his certificate of birth dated 25 May 1949; and copies of Special Orders Number 22 and 101, issued by Headquarters, 4th Infantry Division, on 22 January 1969 and on 11 April 1969, 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 records show he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 9 August 1968. He completed basic combat and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). He was honorably released from active duty in the rank of sergeant/E-5 on 12 March 1970 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Annual Training) for completion of his military service obligations.
3. The applicants records show he completed 10 months and 20 days of foreign service in the U.S. Army Pacific Command (USARPAC). His exact dates of service in the Republic of Vietnam and/or Korea are unclear:
a. item 31 (Foreign Service) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the USARPAC-Korea from 22 April 1969 to 11 March 1970;
b. item 38 (Record of Assignment) of his DA Form 20 shows he was assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry, 7th Infantry Division, from 3 May 1969 to 11 March 1970; and
c. his record contains a copy of Special Orders Number 90, issued by Headquarters, 4th Infantry Division, Vietnam, on 31 March 1969 awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge, while assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry, at the time.
4. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicants DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal. Item 24 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
5. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicants DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows a blank entry.
6. The applicant's name is not shown on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
7. There are no general orders in the applicant's records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
8. The applicant's medical records show he underwent a physical examination on 23 January 1970; however, his Report of Medical Examination does not indicate any combat wounds and/or treatment for such wounds.
9. During the processing of this case, a member of the Board staff reviewed the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command (HRC), which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973. This review failed to reveal any Purple Heart orders on file for the applicant.
10. 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
There is no evidence in the applicants records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds. In the absence of documentation that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon 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.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090002367
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