BOARD DATE: 3 December 2009
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090012068
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 the Board's denial of his previous request for award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he was in a fire fight in late November 1967, was wounded on his left leg above the knee with shrapnel, and the Purple Heart was supposed to be awarded to him.
3. The applicant provides letters from two fellow veterans 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 AR20080009738, on 16 December 2008.
2. The two letters/statements provided by the applicant are new evidence, which requires that the Board reconsider his request.
3. The applicant's record shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 2 November 1966. He was awarded the military occupational specialty of light weapons infantryman, and was promoted to pay grade E-4.
4. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 25 November 1967 to 16 October 1968. He was honorably released from active duty on 18 October 1968 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining Reserve obligation. He completed 1 year, 11 months, and 17 days of creditable active service.
5. The applicants DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14), the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and one Overseas Service Bar.
6. The applicant's DA Form 20 does not contain an entry in item 40 (Wounds), and the Purple Heart is not shown as an authorized award in item 41 (Awards and Decorations).
7. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster for a wound received as a result of hostile action.
8. The applicant provided a copy of a letter from a combat medic who stated that as a medic in the Republic of Vietnam, he remembered the applicant being wounded by shrapnel. He stated that he treated the applicant's wound as best he could and then sent him out to a medical unit since he was always afraid of infection caused by the jungle and the filth around them. The medic concluded that this was his account of what happened to the applicant at the time in Vietnam.
9. The applicant provides with this request a copy of two additional statements from veterans who also served in the 4th Infantry Division. Both individuals stated that he was wounded while assaulting the hill, was treated by a medic at the location where the wound occurred, and was not removed from the field.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 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. The applicant provided three statements from veterans in support of his contention that he was wounded on his left leg with shrapnel. However, to be awarded the Purple Heart, substantiating evidence must be presented to show that the Soldier meets all three criteria prescribed in the regulation.
2. The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster and there are no records available to show the applicant received medical treatment for wounds or injury as a result of hostile action.
3. In the absence of medical records that show the applicant was treated for wounds 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. As such, there is insufficient 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20080009738, dated 16 December 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) AR20090012068
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