IN THE CASE OF:	

		BOARD DATE:	  5 January 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090013296 


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 his request for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he was an aerial gunner on a Huey gunship [UH-1] when he was hit by shrapnel in his right arm while serving in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in December 1971.

3.  The applicant provides, in support of his application, four letters and a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Compensation and Pension Exam Report.

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 AR20080009206, on 15 October 2008.

2.  The applicant enlisted and entered active duty in the Regular Army on
17 September 1970.  Upon completion of training he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 67N (UH-1 Helicopter Repairman).

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

   a.  item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in the RVN from 24 April 1971 through 26 February 1972;
   b  item 38 (Record of Assignments), in pertinent part, that he was assigned in duty MOS 67A1O (Aircraft Maintenance Apprentice) in the 240th Aviation Company (Assault Helicopter) [1st Aviation Brigade, RVN] from 27 April to
16 August 1971; in duty MOS 67N2F (Crew Chief) in the 240th Aviation Company (Assault Helicopter) from 17 August to 22 November 1971; and in duty MOS 11B2O (Security Guard) in Headquarters and Headquarters Company,
12th Combat Aviation Group from 23 November 1971 to 20 February 1972;

   c.  item 40 (Wounds) is blank; and

   d.  item 41 (Awards and Decorations) fails to show he was authorized the Purple Heart.

4.  There is no evidence in the applicant's military personnel records that shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action.  In addition, a review of the Vietnam Casualty Roster confirmed that the applicant's name is not listed on the roster.

5.  A review of the applicant's military personnel records revealed that there are no orders in the applicant's records that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.

6.  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 showing the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.

7.  The applicant's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he entered active duty on 17 September 1970, was honorably released from active duty on 27 March 1972, and transferred to an Army National Guard unit to complete his remaining Reserve obligation.  At the time he had completed 1 year, 6 months, and 11 days of net active service.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) does not list the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

8.  A DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 10 April 1990, shows that the lieutenant colonel serving as the Adjutant General at the Army Reserve Personnel Center, St. Louis, MO, advised the applicant he was unable to verify the applicant's entitlement to award of the Purple Heart.

   a.  The applicant was asked to provide the specific date, place, his unit and organization, and medical treatment facility that treated him for his wounds.
   b.  The applicant's military personnel records do not contain any evidence that the applicant provided the information requested.

9.  In support of his request for reconsideration, the applicant provides the following:

   a.  a letter from a Veterans Service Officer, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Division of Veterans Affairs, Sioux Falls, SD, dated 8 May 2009, that asserts the evidence of record, along with the documentation the applicant provides, is sufficient to show the applicant sustained a shell fragment wound due to hostile action by the enemy;

   b.  two Headquarters, 222nd Aviation Battalion (Combat), 772nd Medical Detachment (Operational Aviation) [RVN], letters, dated 25 August and
15 October 1971, that show the captain serving as Flight Surgeon certified the applicant was medically qualified/cleared to perform as an aerial gunner;

	c.  a letter from E.H. C______, Medical Doctor, Gettysburg, SD, undated, in which he states, in pertinent part, the applicant "had a piece of brass in his right upper arm removed on January 12, 1973"; and

   d.  a VA Compensation and Pension Exam Report, dated 10 April 1996.  This document states, in pertinent part, "[i]n Vietnam during 12-71 while on active duty as the gunman on a Hewey [sic] helicopter gun ship he remembers flying low near the ground when a rocket round had gone off or exploded on the ground spraying shrapnel across the port side of the aircraft.  He was sitting over the left or port bay of the helicopter and caught one piece of shrapnel in the right distal upper arm."  This document also states, "[t]his information was supplied by [the applicant] in retrospect.  He actually was unaware that shrapnel had entered the arm and had remained in the arm until 8 months later about July or August of 1972."

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy and criteria concerning individual military awards.  This Army regulation, in pertinent part, states that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  It provides that 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 contends that his request for award of the Purple Heart should be reconsidered because he was hit by shrapnel in his right arm while performing duty as an aerial gunner in the RVN in December 1971.

2.  The applicant's request for reconsideration for award of the Purple Heart, along with the documentary evidence he provides, was carefully considered.

   a.  Records show the applicant was serving in duty MOS 11B2O as a Security Guard in the RVN from 23 November 1971 to 20 February 1972.  Thus, records do not support the applicant's contention that he was serving as an aerial gunner in the RVN in December 1971.

	b.  The applicant provides no timely documentary evidence from his service medical records to verify that he was wounded as the result of hostile action, that such wound required treatment by medical personnel, or that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

   c.  The documentation pertaining to the applicant's VA claim for benefits, initiated 25 years after the incident upon which his claim for the Purple Heart is based, offers insufficient documentary evidence regarding an injury sustained as a result of hostile action in December 1971 in the RVN.  In fact, the evidence submitted offers evidence that the applicant did not seek medical treatment at the time (i.e., "he actually was unaware that shrapnel had entered the arm").  Thus, it may be concluded that there is no official record of medical treatment.

3.  There is no evidence in the applicant's military service records that shows he was wounded while in action against the enemy, that such wound required treatment, or that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.  In addition, the applicant's DA Form 20, item 40, does not show he was wounded as a result of hostile action; and the applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.  Therefore, in view of all of the foregoing, the applicant is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart in this case.

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 this requirement.  Therefore, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.



BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

____X___  ____X___  ____X___  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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 AR20080009206, dated 15 October 2008.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.



      ____________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)                                         AR20090013296



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090013296



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