IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 15 June 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090019963
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 for wounds received during the Vietnam War.
2. The applicant states he was on a road-clearing operation on Highway 1A out of Phvoc Vinh Base Camp. He was posted as flank security when the unit encountered Viet Cong (VC) setting up a Claymore ambush. A VC woman was startled by the applicant and began running. Another VC set off the Claymore and he suffered a cut right forearm and small cuts on his face and right ear. The VC woman was wounded in the buttocks. The company medic attended to his wounds and told him "You got you a Purple Heart wound here." He then went to treat the VC woman. Shortly after this incident he was assigned to another unit. He thinks the medic may have submitted wound paperwork using his nickname of "Butch" and that the unit didn't know who "Butch" was, so failed to process his Purple Heart.
3. The applicant provides:
* A personal statement
* A statement from his former first sergeant, now a retired command sergeant major
* A letter dated 4 March 2009 from Military Awards Branch, US Army Human Resources Command, Alexandria, VA to a US Senator
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The applicant served in the Regular Army for 3 years from 30 September 1966 through 29 September 1969. He served in Vietnam as a light weapons infantryman from on or about 9 March 1967 to on or about 5 March 1968.
2. The applicant's DA Form 201 (Military Personnel Records Jacket) contains personnel records and forms, and orders issued. It contains his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) which reveals:
* He advanced to the rank of sergeant (SGT/E-5)
* He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Vietnam Campaign Medal, two (2) overseas service bars, Bronze Star Medal, Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14)
* He had no wound entry in Item 40 (Wounds)
3. A review of the applicant's orders found in his DA Form 201 did not reveal orders awarding the Purple Heart.
4. The Vietnam Casualty List does not show the applicant as having been wounded in Vietnam.
5. There are no service medical records in the applicant's DA Form 201.
6. During the processing of this case, a member for the Board staff reviewed the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command (HRC), which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973. This review failed to reveal any award of Purple Heart orders on file for the applicant.
7. The letter of support provided by the applicant's former first sergeant states during the summer of 1967, the unit was conducting road-clearing operations. The applicant's platoon came under fire and the applicant was wounded in the arm and face. He was given first aid by the company medic, but the first sergeant does not remember whether or not he was medically evacuated.
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: (1) the wound was the result of hostile action; (2) the wound required medical treatment; and (3) the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant would like the Purple Heart for wounds he suffered in Vietnam.
2. In order to qualify for award of the Purple Heart, a Soldier must have sustained a wound as the result of hostile action, the wound must have required medical treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. Unfortunately, there is no verification in the official record proving the applicant was wounded.
3. The statement of the applicant's former first sergeant was made 41 years after the events described therein. Although the statement is helpful, without the necessary supporting evidence medical records, orders, Vietnam Casualty List entries, etc. an award of the Purple Heart cannot be made.
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) AR20090019963
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090019963
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