IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  28 January 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090012076 


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 and correction of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show the Purple Heart and his third award of the Meritorious Service Medal.

2.  The applicant states he was a medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam.  He states he served as the 4th Platoon (Mortar) medic.  During operations in the A Shau Valley in April 1968, he also served as the 1st and 2nd Platoon medic when the medics attached to those platoons were killed in action.  He states he was in a foxhole with another Soldier when shrapnel wounded the other Soldier in the head and wounded him [the applicant] in his right hand.  He took care of the seriously injured Soldier, filled out a Field Medical Card on him, and evacuated him from the field.  He then bandaged his own wound and continued to help the Soldiers of 1st, 2nd, and 4th Platoons.

3.  The applicant also states, in effect, he was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal upon retirement.  This was his third award of the Meritorious Service Medal, but his DD Form 214 does not indicate the Meritorious Service Medal (2nd Oak Leaf Cluster, or OLC).

4.  The applicant attended a reunion in February 2009 where he obtained statements from former comrades-in-arms.  He provides:

	a.  a personal statement, dated 6 July 2009;

	b.  a statement from a retired Command Sergeant Major (initials FHM), dated 18 June 2009;

	c.  a statement from a former comrade-in-arms (initials DMD), dated 1 April 2009, which places the date of the applicant's wounding as 14 April 1968; 

	d.  a statement from a former comrade-in-arms (initials CT), dated 30 March 2009;

	e.  two statements from former comrades-in-arms (initials JAW and JMD) written on VA Forms 21-4138 (Statement in Support of Claim), each dated 30 March 2009;

	f.  a statement from a former comrade-in-arms (initials JCW), dated 30 March 2009; and

	g.  a copy of General Orders Number 857, Headquarters, 1st Cavalry Division, Vietnam, dated 20 January 1969, awarding him the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service between February 1968 to February 1969.  Also awarded the Bronze Star Medal on this order were JMD, DMD, JAW, and JCW.

5.  The applicant provides under separate cover:

	a.  his retirement DD Form 214 showing the National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star, Bronze Star Medal (1st OLC), Army Commendation Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Humanitarian Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal (8th Award), Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon (Numeral 3), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2), Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions [Honor] Medal Unit Citation, Marksman [Marksmanship] Qualification Badge 
(M-16), Combat Medical Badge, and Overseas Service Bars (4);

	b.  a DA Form 638-1 (Recommendation for Award), dated 25 January 1993, erroneously shows the "MSM-1" when, in fact, he was already authorized a second Meritorious Service Medal, it should show the Meritorious Service Medal third award;

	c.  a Heidelberg Telecommunications Center message, dated 22 January 1993, with subject:  Military Awards Certificates; and

	d.  two Meritorious Service Medal Certificates for the periods July 1982 to May 1985 and June 1985 to July 1989.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant is a retired Master Sergeant (MSG/E-8).  His entire career was spent as a medical specialist in various medical military occupational specialties (MOSs).

2.  As a junior enlisted Soldier, the applicant served in Vietnam as a medic assigned to HHC, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry.  He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam during the period February 1968 to February 1969.

3.  During the April 1968 time frame, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry participated in two operations which were conducted in the area of the A Shau Valley.  The operations were code named Pegasus/Lam Son and Delaware/Lam Son.  The applicant states that during these operations he was wounded in his right hand, but he continued to treat casualties because his company, had two medics killed in action.  He states he treated his own wound and remained in the field.

4.  The applicant provides six statements of support from former comrades-in-arms who served with him in Vietnam.  All of the former Soldiers were members of Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry.  All attest to the fact the applicant was wounded on or about 14 April 1968 and is deserving of the Purple Heart.

5.  There is no corroborating evidence to support the applicant's claim other than the six statements that he provided.  The applicant's records contain:

	a.  no Purple Heart orders;

	b.  the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command (HRC), which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any Purple Heart orders on file for the applicant;

	c.  the applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster; and

	d.  the applicant's medical records are not available for review.

6.  The applicant received two Meritorious Service Medals for his outstanding meritorious service with the 47th Combat Support Hospital, Fort Lewis, WA and Letterman Army Medical Center, Presidio of San Francisco, CA.  He also received a third Meritorious Service Medal upon the occasion of his retirement in 1993.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart (PH) is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that:  (1) the wound was the result of hostile action; (2) the wound required medical treatment; and (3) the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.  The regulation also provides that there is no statute of limitations on requests for award of the Purple Heart.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that a bronze oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of certain decorations, among which is the Meritorious Service Medal.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant was awarded two Meritorious Service Medals during his career.  Upon his retirement on 31 January 1993, he was awarded a third Meritorious Service Medal; the DA Form 638-1 announcing that award erroneously shows it as the Meritorious Service Medal (1 OLC).  His DD Form 214 erroneously shows only one Meritorious Service Medal.  These documents (DA Form 638-1 and DD Form 214) require correction.

2.  The applicant was a medic in Vietnam in 1968.  He was assigned to HHC, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry and attached to Company B for duty as the medic for the 4th Platoon (Mortars).  There is no doubt he saw combat; he was awarded the coveted Combat Medical Badge.

3.  There is no physical evidence in the applicant's records to show his entitlement to the Purple Heart.  However, six of his former comrades-in-arms – four of whom are listed on the same general order awarding the applicant the Bronze Star Medal – have written supporting statements attesting to the fact that he was wounded in the A Shau Valley in April 1968.  These statements also explain that two platoon medics were killed in action and the applicant had to provide medical treatment for three platoons of Soldiers, thus he stayed in the field rather than go back to base camp for treatment of his own wound.


4.  In order to qualify for award of the Purple Heart, there must be evidence that a Soldier was wounded as the result of hostile action, and there must be evidence that the wound required medical treatment and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.  The applicant does not have this evidence.  

5.  Notwithstanding the absence of evidence described in paragraph 4 above, the Board accepts the statements of the applicants former comrades-in-arms attesting that the applicant was wounded in action against the enemy, and explaining why there is no record of treatment.  The applicant should be awarded the Purple Heart and it should be added to his DD Form 214.

BOARD VOTE:

____x____  ___x_____  ____x____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

	a.  awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in the Republic of Vietnam on or about 14 April 1968;

	b.  deleting the Meritorious Service Medal from his DD Form 214;

	c.  adding the Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal (2nd OLC) to his DD Form 214; and



	d.  correcting the DA Form 638-1, Permanent Order Number 5-9, HHC, 7th MEDCOM, dated 25 January 1993, in Item 13 (Previous Awards) to show 
"MSM-2" and, in Item 26 (Approved Award) to show "MSM – 2nd OLC."




      _______ _   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)                                         AR20090012076



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090012076



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