IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  11 May 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20090018467 


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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states:

* he was wounded in the right forearm (shrapnel) in combat on 22 June 1968 in Vietnam
* the shrapnel remains in his arm today
* he received the Purple Heart, but it is not shown on his DD Form 214
* he was given the medal as he was leaving Fort Carson, Colorado, to return home after his tour of duty was up
* he does not know why the paperwork never made it to his official personnel records
* as a Purple Heart recipient, he was unaware his daughter could receive a college tuition waiver among other benefits

3.  The applicant provides:

* service medical records
* radiology report
* photographs of Purple Heart medal and what appears to be a Soldier
* DD Form 214
* letter from a Member of Congress, dated 20 October 2009

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.  The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 13 December 1967.  He arrived in Vietnam on 24 May 1968.  He served as a light weapons infantryman assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division, in Vietnam from 1 June 1968 to 22 May 1969.  On 12 December 1969, he was released from active duty (REFRAD) in the temporary rank/grade of specialist four after completing 2 years of creditable active service with no time lost.

3.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 shows the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze service stars, Combat Infantryman Badge, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device  (1960), and Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation as authorized awards.

4.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.  However, he provided a service medical record, dated 22 June 1968, which shows he was treated for a shrapnel wound to his right forearm.  He also provided a radiology report wherein x-rays show a foreign body in his right forearm.

5.  There is no evidence he received the first award of the Army Good Conduct Medal.  There also is no evidence he was disqualified by his chain of command from receiving the Army Good Conduct Medal.  His records show he received "excellent" conduct and efficiency ratings throughout his service.

6.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register) lists the awards received by units serving in Vietnam.  This pamphlet shows the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry, was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation based on Department of the Army General Orders Number 53, dated 1970.

7.  A DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214), dated 16 July 2009, amended the applicant's DD Form 214 by adding the Air Medal with First Oak Leaf Cluster.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

9.  Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Awards and Decorations), in effect at the time, provided policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  It stated that the Army Good Conduct Medal was awarded for each 3 years of continuous enlisted active Federal military service completed on or after 27 August 1940 and, for the first award only, upon termination of service on or after 27 June 1950 of less than 3 years but more than 1 year.  At the time, a Soldier's conduct and efficiency ratings must have been rated as "excellent" for the entire period of qualifying service, except that a service school efficiency rating based upon academic proficiency of at least "good" rendered subsequent to 22 November 1955 was not disqualifying.  However, there was no right or entitlement to the medal until the immediate commander made a positive recommendation for its award and until the awarding authority announced the award in general orders.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends he was wounded in the right forearm (shrapnel) in combat on 22 June 1968 in Vietnam and he was awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart.  However, contemporaneous medical evidence of record shows he was treated for a shrapnel wound to his right forearm on 22 June 1968 in Vietnam.  Any reasonable doubt should be resolved in the applicant's favor; therefore, the 22 June 1968 service medical record provided by him is accepted as a sufficient basis for amending his DD Form 214 to show the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant was REFRAD in the temporary rank/grade of specialist four with 2 years of creditable active service with no time lost.  It appears he met the eligibility criteria for the first award of the Army Good Conduct Medal for the period 13 December 1967 through 12 December 1969 based on completion of a period of qualifying service ending with the termination of a period of Federal military service.  Therefore, his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show this award.

4.  The applicant's unit received the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation while he was assigned to it.  Therefore, his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show this unit award.

BOARD VOTE:

____X____  ____X___  ___X____  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

	a.  awarding him the first award of the Army Good Conduct Medal for the period 13 December 1967 through 12 December 1969 and

	b.  adding the Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, and Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class Unit Citation to item 24 of his DD Form 214.



      ____________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)                                         AR20090018467



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20090018467



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