IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 26 January 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090017692
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 he was wounded in his hand while leading Soldiers to break up a riot in Kosovo. He points out that Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) permits award of the Purple Heart to Soldiers performing peacekeeping duties. He adds that in Kosovo, one day the Serbs were the enemy, the next day the Albanians were the enemy.
3. The applicant provides:
a. a DVD of the incident;
b. numerous still photographs of the incident; and
c. the original Purple Heart request which was denied.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant is a retired Command Sergeant Major. In 2000, he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division as a member of the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), located at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo.
2. On 4 April 2000, US military police and Polish soldiers seized two hand grenades in a Serb house in the village of Sevce about 40 miles south of Pristina. About 150 Serbs surrounded the house in a demonstration, refusing to allow the troops to leave. The applicant was a part of a larger US force that responded to the demonstration. During the incident, rocks and bottles were thrown by the Serbs and the applicant was struck on the finger.
3. The demonstration was quelled after approximately 8 hours and the applicant returned to Camp Bondsteel. The following day he was treated at the Camp Bondsteel Medical Facility, receiving sutures to close a cut on his ring finger.
4. The applicant's HHC Commander recommended the applicant be awarded the Purple Heart. The recommendation was supported by the 3rd Brigade Commander and the Task Force Falcon Commander. The 1st Infantry Division Commander recommended disapproval, as did the V Corps Commander. The recommendation was forwarded to the Commander-in-Chief (CINC), US Army Europe (USAREUR) for a decision. The USAREUR Command Judge Advocate reviewed the recommendation and agreed with the Division and Corps Commanders that the request should be denied. The CINC denied the request.
5. The applicant petitioned the Military Awards Branch, US Army Human Resources Command, Alexandria, VA (HRC-Alexandria) requesting award of the Purple Heart. In an undated letter, the Chief, Military Awards Branch denied the request stating, "Â…your injuries were sustained when non-combatant Serbian civilians rioted, throwing rocks and bottles, and you were struck on the hand by a rock, causing a laceration to your right ring finger. Because there is no evidence that any person participating in the riot was an enemy combatant, award of the Purple Heart cannot be authorized."
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant wants the Purple Heart because he was hit by a rock during a demonstration in Sevce, Kosovo.
2. Although the applicant's Purple Heart recommendation had the support of his immediate chain of command, his division and corps commanders did not support it, and the CINC USAREUR did not approve it. These senior commanders who were closest to the situation did not believe the applicant's injury qualified him for award of the Purple Heart.
3. The Military Awards Branch, HRC-Alexandria, has correctly assessed this situation and has appropriately denied the applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart. While it is correct to say Soldiers wounded as a result of serving in military peacekeeping operations outside of the continental United States may be awarded the Purple Heart, the key is whether the wound was caused by an enemy combatant.
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.
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.
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