IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  23 November 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100013924 


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 that his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) be corrected to reflect his award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was awarded the Purple Heart; however, his DD Form 214 does not reflect this award and he desires that the clerical error be corrected.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214, a copy of a newspaper article, and a letter to his mother from her Congressman congratulating him on his award of the Purple Heart.

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 7 November 1967 and while at the reception station at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he enlisted in the Regular Army on 13 November 1967 for a period of 3 years.  He completed his basic training at Fort Jackson and his advanced individual training as a powerman at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, before being transferred to Vietnam on 27 June 1968.  He was initially assigned to the 623d Quartermaster Company and on 18 December 1969 he was awarded the military occupational specialty of 63B (wheel vehicle repairman).  On16 January 1969, he was assigned to the 109th Quartermaster Company at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.

3.  He departed Vietnam on or about 26 May 1969 en route to an assignment in Germany.  He arrived in Germany on 12 August 1969 and was assigned to the 10th Artillery Group for duty as a 63B.

4.  On 6 November 1970, he was honorably released from active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, as an overseas returnee.  He served 2 years, 11 months, and 22 days of total active service and his DD Form 214 issued at the time of his separation shows that he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

5.  A review of the applicant's official records failed to show any evidence indicating he had been wounded as a result of enemy action, that treatment of such wounds was made a matter of record, or that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

6.  The applicant's separation medical examination makes no mention of the applicant being wounded and contains only the entry, "Scar lower lip, scars on right buttock."

7.  A review of the Vietnam casualty listing failed to show the applicant was reported as a casualty.  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 orders for award of the Purple Heart.

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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have 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 was awarded the Purple Heart is not in doubt, he has not provided orders for award of the Purple Heart and his records do not contain sufficient evidence to show he was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded as a result of enemy action and that treatment for such wounds was made a matter of record.

2.  Therefore, in the absence of such evidence, there appears to be no basis to add the award of the Purple Heart to his records at this time.

3.  The supporting documents submitted by the applicant have been noted; however, they do not serve as sufficient official documentation to support the award of the Purple Heart.

4.  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 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)                                         AR20100013924



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100013924



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