BOARD DATE: 28 October 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100008605
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 reconsideration of his earlier request for award of the Purple Heart due to a combat-related wound and injury.
2. The applicant states that somehow his wound was not reported as required.
3. The applicant provides a self-authored statement, dated 29 January 2010; a letter addressed to former fellow Soldiers, dated 3 January 2010; and seven eyewitness statements.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20080019598 on 7 May 2009.
2. The applicants self-authored statement and eyewitness statements are new evidence that warrant consideration by the Board.
3. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 25 June 1963. He served in Vietnam from 20 August 1965 to 9 June 1966.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicants DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show he sustained any wounds as a result of hostile action. His name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
5. His service personnel record does not contain orders for award of the Purple Heart or medical documents which show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
6. The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 9 June 1966 by reason of overseas returnee. His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
7. The applicant provided a self-authored statement in support of his claim. He gives a brief history of the events involving his injury as follows:
* On 18 December 1965, he sustained a shrapnel wound on the right side where his leg connects to his body
* The medic put a bandage on the wound and said he would tend to the wound later
* The medic was later injured and was evacuated with other injured
* He continued to man his machine gun (M-60) for the remainder of the operation
* He had a hernia operation, sometime in early 1970's, in the location where the shrapnel was located
* The surgeon removed the shrapnel and gave it to him
* He also had a foot injury that occurred while on operations and kept him on profile for several weeks
8. The applicant wrote a letter, dated 3 January 2010, addressed to several former Soldiers who served with him in Vietnam. He requested each individual to provide missing information regarding his shrapnel wound. He provided a prepared typed statement and requested each of them to provide comments and return it to him.
9. The applicant provided the following prepared statement to his former fellow Soldiers:
In mid-December of 1965, our unit was involved in combat operations in Vietnam. In the course of those activities I personally witnessed a wound suffered by H----- L---- on December 18, 1965. Specifically, a piece of shrapnel, between 1/4 - 1/2" imbedded in his right upper thigh. He was attended to by our platoon medic who covered it with a small bandage intending to address it later as it was not life threatening and because there were others who needed immediate and urgent attention. The medic was later wounded and evacuated.
Seven of his former comrades responded by returning the above statement with their own comments and signatures.
10. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), in effect at the time, provided 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 been treated by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official records.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants service record does not contain any evidence or medical documents which verify he was injured as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
2. His record is also void of any evidence and he has not provided any evidence showing he sustained a foot injury while participating in combat operations. Additionally, he has not provided any evidence in support of his claim that following his period of active duty service, he underwent a hernia operation during which "the surgeon removed the shrapnel and gave it to him."
3. His service record does not contain orders which authorized him the award of the Purple Heart and his name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster. By regulation, in order to award the Purple Heart it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded in action, the wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
4. In the absence of any corroborating evidence which shows the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.
5. The eyewitness statements attesting to the fact that the applicant sustained a wound on 18 December 1965 in his right upper thigh were noted. However, these statements alone are not sufficient to meet the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20080019598, dated 7 May 2009.
__________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) AR20100008605
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
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