IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 17 February 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090014876
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 Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Purple Heart while in Vietnam and that the medals were on his bunk when he returned from the hospital. He contends that it was during combat in Vietnam, that record keeping during those circumstances was difficult, that he has a scar on his right lower side, and that his wound was treated in the 8th Field Hospital in Vietnam.
3. The applicant provides no documentary evidence 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 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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 1 February 1966. On 6 February 1966, he was honorably discharged for immediate enlistment in the Regular Army. He enlisted in the Regular Army on 7 February 1966 for a period of 3 years. He was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 31L (radio relay and carrier repairman). He arrived in Vietnam on
4 November 1966. He served in MOS 31L assigned to the 586th Signal Company in Vietnam from 13 November 1966 through 19 October 1967. On
6 February 1969, he was released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) to complete his remaining service obligation.
3. The applicants DD Form 214 does not show the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart as authorized awards.
4. There are no orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart in the applicant's service personnel records.
5. Item 40 (Wounds) on the applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows the entry "Broken Ribs Fall from Phone Pole."
6. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
7. A Standard Form 89 (Report of Medical History), dated 1 November 1968, shows the applicant fractured his ribs in Vietnam in 1967. However, there is no evidence that this injury was the result of hostile action.
8. 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.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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.
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 military medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are no orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge. The evidence of record shows the applicant held and served in MOS 31L and that he was assigned to a signal company during his assignment in Vietnam. There is no evidence of record which shows he held and served in an infantry MOS or that he served in active ground combat while an assigned member of an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size in Vietnam. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Combat Infantryman Badge in this case.
2. The entry in item 40 on the applicant's DA Form 20 which shows he sustained broken ribs from a fall from a phone pole and the Standard Form 89 which states the applicant fractured his ribs in Vietnam in 1967 were noted. However, there is no evidence of record which shows this injury was the result of hostile action in Vietnam. Since there are no orders for the Purple Heart and there is no evidence of record which shows that the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.
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) AR20090014876
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090014876
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