IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 23 September 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100011607
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 to be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he was wounded in action in Vietnam around March 1970 and he was never awarded the Purple Heart. He further states he was treated in the field by a medic and was then taken to a field hospital in Hue, Vietnam, for shrapnel in his back and above his eye.
3. The applicant provides no additional documents with his application.
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 12 June 1969. He completed basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and advanced individual training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, before being transferred to Vietnam on 11 November 1969.
3. He was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion (Airmobile), 502d Infantry Regiment, for duty as a rifleman. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant on 19 October 1970 and he departed Vietnam on 26 October 1970 for assignment to Fort Hood, Texas, where he remained until he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) on 11 June 1971 due to the expiration of his term of service.
4. He served 2 years of total active service and his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) issued at the time of his REFRAD reflects that he was awarded the:
* National Defense Service Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze service stars
* Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
* Bronze Star Medal
* Army Good Conduct Medal
* Army Commendation Medal
* Air Medal
5. A review of the applicant's official records and the Vietnam casualty listing failed to reveal any evidence to show the applicant was wounded/injured in Vietnam or that he was reported as a casualty. Additionally, there is no evidence to show he was treated for any such injuries.
6. A search of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, a web-based index containing roughly 611,000 general orders issued between 1965 and 1973 for the Vietnam era, failed to reveal any orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound/injury sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound/injury was a result of hostile action, that the wound/injury required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the sincerity of the applicant's claim that he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart is not in doubt, there simply is insufficient evidence in the available records to substantiate his claim.
2. There is no evidence in the available records to show the applicant was wounded, when he sustained his wound, whether the wound was the result of enemy action, the nature of his injury, and the extent to which treatment was required.
3. It should also be noted that the absence of the applicant's medical records coupled with the absence of entries in his personnel records makes it difficult at best to ascertain what happened in the applicant's case. Inasmuch as the Board is not an investigative board, the burden of proving his case rests with the applicant.
4. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient evidence to establish that he meets the criteria for award of the Purple Heart, there appears to be no basis to grant his request at this time.
5. 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:
1. 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.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the
United States during the Vietnam War. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
____________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) AR20100011607
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100011607
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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