IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 6 April 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090017467
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 he was wounded in combat in Vietnam. He adds he had previously thought that no one had been put in for the award of the Purple Heart until he discovered a fellow Soldier received the award for the same action.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), a supporting statement with a copy of the Soldier's Purple Heart orders, unit photos, 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 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's records show he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and entered active duty on 1 August 1962. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from 21 January to 1 July 1966 and he was honorably retired on 30 September 1987.
3. The supporting statement provided by a Special Forces medic recalled that in June 1966 the camp was attacked by the Viet Cong and he treated some of the wounded Soldiers including the applicant for a small mortar fragment wound in his left leg. He added that the wound qualified the applicant for the award of the Purple Heart, but like many of the Special Forces personnel, the applicant brushed it off.
4. The applicant provided a copy of orders that show the Special Forces medic was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received in June 1966.
5. The available records contain no documentation showing the applicant sustained wounds or was treated for wounds incurred as a result of hostile action.
6. The records contain no evidence of any general orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart and his name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
7. 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:
There are no medical records available which show the applicant was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during his service in Vietnam. The supporting letter from the medic concerning the alleged wounding incident does not provide evidence sufficiently compelling to overcome the absence of medical documentation. Therefore, in the absence of medical records supporting the applicant's contention, 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) AR20090017467
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090017467
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