IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 15 October 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090009496
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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received in Vietnam and that his commander told him he was recommending him for the award.
3. The applicant provides a copy of documents from his medical records, a copy of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) and a copy of a letter he wrote to his family from Vietnam on 19 March 1967 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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 11 January 1965 for a period of 3 years and training in the field communications career management field. He successfully completed his training and was initially assigned to Germany. He departed Germany on 2 May 1966 and was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas for duty as a wireman. He remained at Fort Riley until 1 December 1966, when he was transferred to Vietnam with his unit. He was promoted to the pay grade of E-5 on 26 December 1966.
3. The Standard Form (SF) 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care) provided by the applicant shows that on 18 March 1967 he was treated for a urethral discharge and for cuts to his left arm and index finger. He was prescribed penicillin and tetracycline.
4. The letter provided by the applicant is dated 19 March 1967 and indicates that he was in the aid station being treated for lacerations and infections caused by hanging barbed wire around the camp.
5. He departed Vietnam on 22 November 1967 and was transferred to Oakland Army Base, California where he was honorably released from active duty as an overseas returnee on that date. He had served 2 years, 10 months and 12 days of total active service and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Army Occupation Medal (Berlin), the Vietnam Service Medal and the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Badge with M-14 Rifle bar.
6. A review of the applicant's official records fails to indicate that he was wounded as a result of enemy action or that he was ever awarded the Purple Heart. Additionally, the applicants name is not contained on the Vietnam Casualty Listing.
7. 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:
1. While the veracity of the applicant's claim that he was injured in Vietnam is not in doubt, the requirements for award of the Purple Heart are that the injuries must be the result of hostile action, that the injuries must have required treatment by a medical officer and that the treatment must have been made a matter of record.
2. The applicant has failed to show through the evidence submitted with his application or the evidence of record that all three requirements were met for award of the Purple Heart.
3. There is no doubt that the applicant was treated for some medical conditions while in Vietnam; however, the available evidence does not indicate that he was treated for injuries that he received as a result of hostile action.
4. Accordingly, lacking evidence to establish that he meets the criteria established by the applicable laws and regulations, there is no basis to award him the Purple Heart at this time.
5. 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) AR20090009496
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090009496
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