IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  5 January 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090012441 


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 and the Combat Infantryman Badge for his service in the Republic of Vietnam.

2.  The applicant states that he was recommended for award of the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman Badge for an injury he received on 9 or 10 February 1968.  He found a letter, dated 8 February 1968, that he wrote to his aunt telling her that he was going to clear a section of road the next day for the mechanized infantry.  There was an explosion from a booby-trapped 105 millimeter shell buried in the road.  His eardrum was ruptured and he received some cuts and scrapes.  He was sent to a hospital in Saigon for treatment.  His eardrum was patched.  He stayed overnight and returned to his unit the next day.  He was given a card so that if there were any problems in the future, his record of treatment could be found.  A lieutenant from the mechanized infantry unit recommended him for award of the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  It was common for engineers who worked directly with the infantry to get the Combat Infantryman Badge based on their secondary military occupational specialty (MOS) as an infantryman.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his Veterans Administration file identification card 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 applicant's 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 applicant's failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.

2.  On 13 October 1966, the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States for 2 years.  He completed his initial training and was awarded MOS 12A (Pioneer).

3.  On 25 February 1967, the applicant departed Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for duty in the Republic of Vietnam.

4.  On 21 March 1967, the applicant was assigned as a pioneer with the 15th Engineer Battalion, 9th Infantry Division.  He served in this unit until his return to the United States on 13 March 1968 for duty at Fort Hood, Texas.

5.  On 11 October 1968, the applicant was released from active duty.  He had attained the rank of specialist four, pay grade E-4, and had completed 1 year, 11 months, and 29 days of creditable active duty.

6.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 lists his awards as the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze service stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar.  It does not show award of the Purple Heart or Combat Infantryman Badge.

7.  The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.

8.  The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows:

	a.  in item 22 (Military Occupational Specialties) - 12A1O, Pioneer, awarded 23 February 1967; and

	b.  that item 40 (Wounds) is blank.

9.  A 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart.

10.  The applicant's service medical records are not available for review.

11.  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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size.

13.  U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Awards and Decorations), in effect at the time, specifically governed award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to Army forces operating in South Vietnam.  This regulation specifically stated that criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge identified the man who trained, lived, and fought as an infantryman and that the Combat Infantryman Badge is the unique award established to recognize the infantryman and only the infantryman for his service.  Further, "the Combat Infantryman Badge is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day-to-day combat."  This regulation also stated the Combat Infantryman Badge was authorized for award to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS and required that they must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size.  Appendix V of this regulation provided the guidance governing award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Paragraph 2a stated, in effect, that MOS's "in the 11 series with the letters B, C, D, F, G and H" are infantry MOS's.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that his records should be corrected to show he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  There are no available general orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart.  The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.  Item 40 of the applicant's DA Form 20 is blank.  The applicant has not provided any substantiating evidence showing that he received a wound as a result of hostile action, that such a wound required treatment, or that any medical treatment for such a wound was made a matter of official record.  Therefore, the applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart should be denied.

3.  The evidence clearly shows that the applicant held only an engineer MOS.  He did not hold a secondary MOS of any kind.  Furthermore, he was not assigned to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size while assigned in the Republic of Vietnam.  Therefore, his request for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge should be denied.

4.  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 the aforementioned 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)                                         AR20090012441



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090012441



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