IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  20 January 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100016516 


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 and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

2.  The applicant states he was wounded in Vietnam and he participated in the "Cuban Boat Affair."

3.  The applicant provides no additional documentation.

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 had enlisted service in the Regular Army (RA) from 28 February 1962 through 25 November 1963 at which time he was honorably discharged in order to accept a commission in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR).  He served as a USAR officer on active duty from 26 November 1963 through 12 April 1972 when he was released from active duty and assigned to the USAR Control Group (Reinforcement) on 13 April 1972 in the grade of captain.  During his active duty, he served in Vietnam from 5 November 1965 to 4 November 1966 and from 20 March 1969 to 4 February 1970.

3.  The applicant remained in the USAR until March 1986.  His ARPC Form 249 (Chronological Statement of Retirement Points) shows only two periods of active duty after 13 April 1972 – he served 28 days from November 1973 to November 1974, and he served 118 days from March 1980 to March 1981.

4.  The applicant's service records:

* do not contain his service medical records; there is no medical documentation of a wound suffered in Vietnam
* do not contain orders/documentation awarding the Purple Heart or Humanitarian Service Medal

5.  Other attempts to verify entitlement to the Purple Heart were unsuccessful.  ADCARS (Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command (HRC), failed to reveal any award of the Purple Heart on file for the applicant.  His name is not on the Vietnam Casualty File, a list of casualties during the Vietnam War.

6.  Army Regulation (AR) 600-8-22 (Military Awards) sets forth Department of the Army criteria, policy and instructions concerning individual military awards, the Good Conduct Medal, service medals and service ribbons, combat and special skill badges and tabs, unit decorations, and trophies and similar devices awarded in recognition of accomplishments.  It provides:

	a.  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 required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

	b.  The Humanitarian Service Medal is awarded to members who distinguished themselves by meritorious direct participation in a Department of Defense approved significant military act or operation of a humanitarian nature.  A service member must be on active duty at the time of direct participation, must have directly participated in the humanitarian act or operation within the designated geographical area of operation and within specified time limits, and must provide evidence that substantiates direct participation.  Table C-1 of Army Regulation 600-8-22 shows that the Cuban Refugee Resettlement Operation (27 April 1980 to 1 July 1985 in Florida the Florida Straits) was approved by the Department of Defense as qualifying for award of the Humanitarian Service Medal.

7.  The Cuban Refugee Resettlement Operation, also known as the Mariel Boatlift, was a mass exodus of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between 15 April and 31 October 1980 seeking refugee status in America.  Initial response to the boatlift involved the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps.  In May 1980, the Army dispatched the 503rd Military Police Battalion, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, NC, to relieve the Florida Army National Guard units who were mobilized to handle the on-ground safety and security, as well as daily operations of the various refugee compounds established throughout the Miami metropolitan area.  The 503rd Military Police Battalion was augmented by Spanish-speaking Soldiers of the 96th Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg.  U.S. military personnel participating in this operation were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for their service.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

2.  There is no evidence the applicant was ever wounded in Vietnam.  In order to prove entitlement to the Purple Heart, the applicant must prove he was wounded as a result of hostile action; he was treated by medical personnel; and that his medical treatment was made a matter of official record.  There is no such evidence available and the applicant's records contain no orders awarding the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant's records do not show he participated in the Cuban Refugee Resettlement Operation.  The records do show he served on active duty for 118 days during the period 25 March 1980 to 24 March 1981, but there is no evidence to show where he performed his duty, or what he did.  There are no documentation awarding him the Humanitarian Service Medal in his service records.



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)                                         AR20100016516



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100016516



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