IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 22 December 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090011034
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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he received a Purple Heart for a knee injury in 1969 while in Vietnam. He states that he has the medal but no documentation.
3. The applicant provides no additional documentary evidence in support of this 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's military records show he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 16 April 1968. He completed the required training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 51M (fireman). The highest rank/grade he held during his tenure of service was sergeant (SGT)/E-5.
3. The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 29 January 1970 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining Reserve obligation. He completed 1 year, 9 months, and 14 days of creditable active service.
4. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period 26 January 1969 through
27 January 1970.
5. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 is blank.
6. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
7. 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 the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
8. The applicant's records do not contain any evidence that indicates he was ever recommended for or awarded the Purple Heart by proper authority.
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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There is no evidence in the applicant's service personnel records and he has provided no evidence which shows that he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, that he was treated for such wounds by medical personnel, or that such treatment was made a matter of official record. There is also no evidence that he was recommended for or awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant's name also is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
3. In the absence of evidence that the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart. As a result, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart has not been satisfied in this case. Therefore, there is no basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
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) AR20090011034
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090011034
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