IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 13 August 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090005057
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 reconsideration of his previous request for award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in part, that his lieutenant informed him the Purple Heart was to be issued as the wounds were as a result of the enemy shelling their base. He adds we are all aware the Army is run by people and people can make mistakes in paperwork.
3. The applicant provides three photographs, a Chronological Record of Medical Care, an Individual Sick Slip, a DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), and a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214) in support of this application.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. 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 AR20080012338, on 24 September 2008.
2. The applicant stated in his previous request that while serving in Vietnam, his base camp came under mortar attack by the enemy and he was wounded as a result of that attack. He claimed he sustained an injury to his leg and was knocked unconscious for approximately 30 minutes.
3. The applicant provides three photographs which were not reviewed previously by the ABCMR; therefore, they are considered new evidence and as such, warrant consideration by the Board.
4. The applicant was inducted into the Army on 16 November 1966 and upon completion of initial entry training was awarded military occupational specialty 62E (Heavy Construction Equipment Operator). He served in Vietnam from
30 March 1968 to 6 November 1968 and was honorably released from active duty on 7 November 1968.
5. There are no documents in the applicant's records showing he was awarded or recommended for award of the Purple Heart. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank. His name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
6. The applicant provides three photographs as new evidence. These photographs show an individual holding a mortar shell, a bunker, and what appears to be a working site or motor pool.
7. The Chronological Record of Medical Care and the Individual Sick Slip provided by the applicant show that on 16 October 1968, he was treated for an open cut to his left leg and that he injured his knee on a truck. These documents do not specify how the injuries were incurred.
8. The DD Form 215 provided by the applicant corrected his DD Form 214 by deleting the Vietnam Service Medal and adding the Vietnam Service Medal with four bronze service stars.
9. 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 military medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contention that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart has been carefully reviewed.
2. The photographs provided as new evidence failed to substantiate that the applicant incurred his injuries as a result of hostile action.
3. The evidence shows the applicant received an injury to his leg, he received medical treatment for the wound, and the treatment that he received was made a matter of permanent record; however, none of the documents, to include the pictures the applicant submitted show or indicate that the injury was caused as a result of hostile action.
4. While the sincerity of the applicant's claim that he was wounded as a result of hostile action is not in doubt, there is simply no evidence to substantiate his claim. Therefore, lacking evidence to the contrary, the Board has no basis upon which to award him 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20080012338, dated 24 September 2008.
_______ _ _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) AR20090005057
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090005057
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