IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	4 August 2009  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090006238


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 his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) be corrected as follows:

	a.  Item 22c (Foreign and/or Sea Service) should reflect more than just 1 month and 14 days of service in Vietnam; and

	b.  Item 30 (Remarks) should show he only completed 7 years of education instead of the 2 years of high school that is currently shown.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he is a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) patient and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  His doctors are skeptical of his accounts of his wartime exploits, believing he could not have experienced all of the traumatic events he claims in such a short period of time.  He needs more time added to Item 22c so it reflects the true amount of time he spent in Vietnam.

3.  The applicant states he only finished 7th grade before dropping out of school. He then attended night classes off and on to attain 2 years of high school.  He does not believe that time should count and that Item 30 should state that he only completed 7th grade because this would help him with his issues with the DVA.

4.  The applicant provides:

	a.  a copy of his DD Form 214;

	b.  a partial copy of a Board of Veterans Appeals decision;

	c.  a copy of page 3 of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) showing in Item 38 (Record of Assignments) that he departed Fort Lewis, WA in a casual status on 16 April 1969 en route to Vietnam;

	d.  a copy of Letter Orders Number 7-200, Headquarters, 25th Infantry Division, Vietnam, authorizing the applicant to perform emergency leave for 30 days commencing on/about 21 July 1969;

	e.  a copy of a Western Union Telegram from Fort Sheridan, IL to the Commanding General, 25th Infantry Division, stating the applicant, who was on emergency leave, would be reassigned to Fort Sheridan;

	f.  a copy of an undated, Standard Form (SF) 507 (Clinical Record) created by the Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC), Long Beach, CA relating the applicant’s hallucinations about Vietnam;

	g.  a copy of Letter Orders Number 11-1338429, Office of The Adjutant General, US Army Reserve Components Personnel and Administration Center, St. Louis, MO, discharging the applicant on 19 November 1974 upon expiration of his military service obligation;

	h.  a copy of his Honorable Discharge Certificate; and

	i.  a copy of a DA Form 2376 (Notification to State Adjutants General – Release from Active Duty of Obligated Reservist).

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 enlisted in the Regular Army for 2 years on 23 December 1968. He underwent basic combat training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO and infantry advanced individual training at Fort Lewis, WA.

3.  The applicant completed advanced individual training and was ordered to Vietnam.  Special Orders Number 127, Headquarters, US Army Training Center, Infantry and Fort Lewis, dated 7 May 1969, directed the applicant’s transfer and provided:

	a.  he would proceed from Fort Lewis on 16 May 1969 to the US Army Overseas Replacement Station, Oakland Army Base, Oakland, CA, for further transfer to Vietnam;

	b.  he would be authorized 17 days of delayed leave en route from Fort Lewis to Oakland Army Base; and

	c.  he would report to the US Army Overseas Replacement Station, Oakland Army Base, not later than 1200 hours, 4 June 1969, for ultimate transfer to Vietnam during the month of June 1969.

4.  The applicant’s records show he departed the US Army Overseas Replacement Station, Oakland Army Base, on 6 June 1969, and arrived in Vietnam on the same date.  He was in-processed into the US Army Vietnam Transient Detachment to await final assignment to a unit.  Special Orders Number 160, Headquarters, 25th Infantry Division, dated 9 June 1969, released him from assignment to the US Army Vietnam Transient Detachment and assigned him to Company D, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, effective 14 June 1969.

5.  On 14 June 1969, the applicant reported for duty as a rifleman with Company D, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division.  He participated in at least one combat patrol during which he engaged, or was engaged by the enemy because he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge by Special Orders Number 207, Headquarters, 25th Infantry Division, dated 26 July 1969.

6.  The applicant’s father passed away and he was permitted to go home on 30 days’ of emergency leave.  Letter Orders Number 7-200, Headquarters, 
25th Infantry Division, dated 21 July 1969, directed him to proceed on emergency leave on 21 July 1969.

7.  The applicant went home to Chicago, IL for his father’s funeral; he did not return to Vietnam.  The applicant reported to Fort Sheridan, IL and requested a compassionate reassignment.  In a Western Union Telegram from Fort Sheridan, the Commanding General, 25th Infantry Division, Vietnam, was informed the applicant would be compassionately reassigned to Headquarters, Fifth US Army, Fort Sheridan.  The actual reassignment orders releasing the applicant from assignment to Company D, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry were not published by the 25th Infantry Division until 3 October 1970.  The orders reassigning him to Headquarters Detachment, US Army Support Detachment, Fort Sheridan were not published by Fifth US Army until 16 October 1970.  The applicant was carried by Fort Sheridan in an “assigned (not joined)” status during this period.

8.  While he was assigned to Fort Sheridan, the applicant had a substandard record of conduct and efficiency.  His personnel file contains three records of nonjudicial punishment (NJP) under Article 15, Uniform Code of Military Justice, for:

	a.  without authority, failing to go to his appointed place of duty at the Post Gymnasium on 29 October 1969, for which he received 14 days of extra duty (suspended for 2 months);

	b.  without authority, failing to go to his appointed place of duty at the Officer’s Club on 1 January 1970, for which he received 14 days of extra duty; and

	c.  without authority, failing to go to his appointed place of duty at the Headquarters Company Orderly Room on 12, 13, 14 and 16 January 1970, for which he received 14 days of restriction and extra duty.

9.  The applicant was absent without leave (AWOL) from his unit during the period 16-19 January 1970.  This indiscipline triggered a security clearance review and, on 9 April 1970, the applicant’s security clearance was revoked.  His DA Form 20 was annotated in Item 38 (Record of Assignments) to show his conduct was unsatisfactory and his efficiency was merely “fair.”

10.  On 10 December 1970, the applicant was honorably separated.  His DD Form 214 shows he served 1 year, 11 months, and 14 days of creditable service and he had 4 days of lost time due to being AWOL.  It also correctly shows he had 1 month and 14 days of Vietnam service.  

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  In order to make his accounts of traumatic stress more believable to his DVA doctors, the applicant requests his time served in Vietnam be increased.  He also would like his education level shown on his DD Form 214 to be decreased to “7th Grade” for the same reason.

2.  The applicant spent a total of 44 days in Vietnam; he spent only 37 days in an infantry rifle company.  While he was awarded a Combat Infantryman Badge, his combat time was extremely minimal.  Most of the applicant’s service – some 1 year, 3 months, and 11 days – was spent in his hometown of Chicago working in the Post Gym and the Officer’s Club at Fort Sheridan.

3.  The applicant’s DD Form 214 shows he completed 2 years of high school.  However, the applicant disputes this entry saying that he completed only the 7th grade.  However, he adds that his 2 years of high school education was achieved “off and on” through night school.  For the purposes of his DD Form 214, night school counts, so the entry “2 years High School” in Item 30 of his DD Form 214 is correct.

4.  In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.

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)                                         AR20090006238



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090006238



2


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1