IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  30 November 2010

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100015871


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.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was struck in the left eye while walking through the jungle while on active duty in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN).  He spent three weeks in the hospital and had to wear an eye patch.

3.  The applicant provides:

* a letter from the Wise County Veterans Service Office, Decatur, TX, dated 3 May 2010
* a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rating Decision, dated 26 April 2007

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 for 2 years on 28 April 1964.  He completed basic combat and advanced individual training and he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).

3.  Records show the applicant served in the RVN during the period 6 October 1965 through 21 April 1966.

4.  The applicant's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he was honorably released from active duty on
22 April 1966 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Annual) to complete his remaining service obligation.  The applicant completed 1 year, 11 months, and 25 days of total active service.

5.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.

6.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.

7.  The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.

8.  Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

9.  The applicant provided a letter from the Wise County Veterans Service Office which states, in effect, that applicant’s service medical records will show he was injured and he had a subsequent hospital stay for treatment of the injury.

10.  The applicant also provided a VA Rating Decision, dated 26 April 2007, from the Waco Regional Office.  This decision grants the applicant service-connection for left eye injury with a 10 percent (%) rating percentage.  The decision states, in effect, that the applicant’s service medical records show he was struck in the left eye with a bamboo stick while in the RVN.  He was hospitalized for about
3 weeks and wore patches until the eye healed.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 contention that his records should be corrected to show award the Purple Heart was carefully considered; however, there is insufficient evidence to support this claim.

2.  The applicant's available records, ADCARS, and the Vietnam casualty roster do not provide any evidence which verifies he was wounded as a result of hostile action.

3.  The applicant did provide evidence that he sustained an eye injury while serving in the RVN and that he was hospitalized as a result of that injury.  However, there is no evidence of record and he did not provide any evidence that shows the injury was sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action.  Absent such evidence there is an insufficient basis on which to grant award of the Purple Heart.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

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)                                         AR20100015543



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100015871



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