BOARD DATE: 6 April 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090017265
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.
2. The applicant states that his combat wound is part of his military records.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), Standard Form 89 (Report of Medical History), and Congressional correspondence.
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. Records show the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 29 December 1965. He served in Vietnam from 15 June 1966 to 13 June 1967. He was honorably released from active duty on 15 December 1967.
3. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 does not list the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
4. The applicant provided a Standard Form 89 that shows he underwent a physical examination on 24 November 1967. Item 33 of the exam (Have you ever had any illness or injury other than those already noted) lists, "fragment wound on right thigh, 5 January 1967, in the Republic of Vietnam while on an ambush patrol." The applicant answered "No" to Item 34 (Have you consulted or been treated by clinics, physicians, healers, or other practitioners within the past 5 years).
5. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows no entries for any wounds received.
6. The available records contain no documentation which shows the applicant sustained wounds or was treated for wounds incurred as a result of hostile action.
7. The records contain no evidence or any general orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart and his name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
8. 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are no general orders available which awarded the applicant the Purple Heart and his name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty report. The applicant provided a copy of his physical examination conducted 10 months after the alleged wounding in which he lists that he received a fragment wound on his right thigh on 5 January 1967 while on an ambush patrol.
2. However, on this same form, the applicant states that he has not consulted or been treated by clinics, physicians, healers, or other practitioners within the past 5 years. Therefore, without medical evidence verifying that the applicant was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during his service in Vietnam, there is an insufficient basis for 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) AR20090017265
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