IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 19 October 2010
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100012253
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 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he was awarded the Purple Heart in a ceremony in DaNang, Vietnam on 19 December 1968.
3. The applicant provides a notarized letter from an individual who contends he was present when the applicant was wounded. He also provides a notarized letter, dated 27 September 2005, from an individual who contends he was the medic that treated the applicant when he was wounded in Vietnam.
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 applicants 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 applicants failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.
2. On 26 October 1961, the applicant enlisted in the Army for 3 years. He completed training as a field artillery missile crewman. He remained on active duty through continuous reenlistments and he arrived in Vietnam on 31 October 1968.
3. A review of the available records reveals no evidence contained therein showing he was wounded or injured while in action against an enemy force while he was in Vietnam.
4. The applicant returned to the US on or about 23 October 1969. He was honorably discharged for the purpose of immediate reenlistment on 18 March 1973.
5. Item 24 (Decorations, medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the DD Form 214 he was issued covering his service in Vietnam shows he was awarded the:
* Vietnam Service Medal
* Combat Infantryman Badge
* Republic of Vietnam Campaign Meal with Device (1960)
* Two Overseas Service Bard
* Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation
* Meritorious Unit Commendation
* Good Conduct Medal (Second Award)
* Bronze Star Medal
* Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster
* Good Conduct Medal (Third Award)
6. The applicant retired from the Army on 28 December 1978.
7. The applicant submits a notarized letter from a FSM who contends he was present when the applicant was wounded in his right leg by shrapnel from enemy fire during a search and destroy mission of Marble Mountain outside their camp near DaNang, South Vietnam on 19 December 1968. He states the applicant was treated by a senior medic and that he was returned to duty after treatment.
8. He also submits a letter dated 27 September 2005 from an individual who contends that he was the medic that treated the applicant after he was wounded in action while engaged in a military operation involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. He states that during the conflict, an enemy grenade hit the applicant causing numerous fragments to his right knee
and leg and that he was evacuated to the main dispensary located on the compound. He states that the applicant was "put in" for a Purple Heart, but he never received the award.
9. The applicant's name is not shown on the Vietnam Casualty Listing.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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's contentions have been noted and the supporting letters he submitted have been considered. However, the documentation in itself is not sufficient to warrant awarding him the Purple Heart.
2. The available evidence of record does not support his contention that he is entitled to the award of the Purple Heart because they do not show that he was ever wounded while in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action while he was in Vietnam.
3. His name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Listing as being wounded in action and, in the absence of medical documentation showing otherwise, it must be presumed that he is not entitled to the award of the Purple Heart.
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) AR20100012253
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100012253
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