IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	       16 July 2009

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090004640 


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 this award be added to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Repot of Transfer or Discharge).

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded in action on 5 May 1968 and remained in the bush with his unit.  He adds that it has taken forty years for him to find the medic who attended to his wounds because a report was not made at the time.

3.  The applicant provides a self-authored letter to the Board which provides his perspective relative to his being wounded in action and a statement from an individual who alleges he was the medic who provided the applicant with medical treatment in 1968.

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 military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 16 January 1967.  He completed his basic combat training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and his advanced individual training at Fort Gordon, Georgia.  On completion of his training, he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).  The applicant volunteered for and successfully completed the basic airborne training course and was awarded the Parachutist Badge.

3.  The applicant was assigned to Vietnam and served there for the period 16 July 1967 through 12 July 1968.  While in Vietnam, the applicant was assigned to Company C, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 327th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.

4.  The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 23 December 1969, in accordance with the provisions of Army Regulation 635-200 (Personnel Separations - Enlisted Separations), Chapter 5, for the convenience of the Government - early release to attend school.  The applicant was released from active duty in the rank of Sergeant, pay grade E-5.  On the date he was released from active duty, he had served 2 years, 11 months, and 8 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 Parachutist Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device, and the Army Commendation Medal.  On 22 June 2004, the applicant's DD Form 214 was corrected to delete the Bronze Star Medal and the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device and to add a single consolidated entry to show the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and with "V" Device.  The Purple Heart was not included among the applicant's authorized awards and decorations.

6.  The applicant submitted a notarized statement from an individual who alleges that he was the medic who treated the applicant after he was allegedly wounded in action on 5 May 1968.  The medic claims he provided the applicant medical treatment; however, by his own admission, he did not make the treatment a matter of record because he was out of forms.  The same medic claims to have 


provided the applicant continuing medical treatment for three or four days after he was wounded in action; however, it appears that this treatment was also not recorded as required and as evidenced by the applicant not having provided copies of treatment records.

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.  Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.  It does not show that he sustained a wound as a result of hostile enemy action.

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

10.  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 award of the Purple Heart to the applicant.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of enemy action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile enemy 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 by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  The applicant submitted a notarized statement from an individual who claims he was the medic who provided the applicant medical treatment for the wound he allegedly sustained over forty years ago.

3.  The statement submitted by the applicant's witness states the applicant was wounded as a result of incoming mortar fire after their unit came under attack by an enemy force on 5 May 1968.

4.  After providing the applicant medical treatment for his wound when he was wounded and for several days after, the applicant's witness admits that he did not make the medical treatment a matter of official record because he was out of forms.

5.  Because the medical treatment was not made a matter of official record, the applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Listing nor does it appear on the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration's Casualty Information System.  In addition, no entries were made in the applicant's service personnel records to show he was wounded as a result of hostile action and consequently no orders were published awarding him the Purple Heart.

6.  While the statement in support of the applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart was notarized to add a degree of credibility, verifying information was not provided to show that this individual was a medic assigned to the 2nd Platoon, Company C of the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry; and if so, that he was on duty in the field on that date and that he did provide the medical treatment which is described in his statement of support.

7.  Based on the lack of corroborating documentary evidence in this case, the applicant is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart and to have it added to his DD Form 214.

8.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

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)                                         AR20090004640





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090004640



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