IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 24 September 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090008422
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, in effect, that during December 1965 a mortar round hit close to the foxhole tent he was sleeping in and that when he woke from the explosion he noticed his left hand was bleeding from a piece of shrapnel.
3. The applicant provides a VA Form 21-0781 (Statement in Support of Claim for Service Connection for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), a radiology report, a DD Form 256A ( Honorable Discharge Certificate), and a copy of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) 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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 8 January 1964. He served as a field communications crewman in Vietnam from 25 September 1965 to 31 December 1965. On 10 January 1966, the applicant was released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining service obligation.
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. Section 8 (Wounds Received Through Enemy Action) of the applicant's DA Form 24 (Service Record) is blank and section 9 (Medals, Decorations, and Citations) does not show entitlement to the Purple Heart. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
6. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, 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 17 April 2009. The report states that a left hand x-ray shows there is a metallic foreign body in the soft tissues between the base of the second and third metacarpals. 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.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090008422
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090008422
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