IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 1 February 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100017667
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, through his Congressional representative, award of the Purple Heart for his father, a deceased former service member (FSM), for wounds received in the Republic of Vietnam.
2. The applicant states his father's wounds were not documented in his military personnel files.
3. The applicant provides copies of:
* his father's death certificate
* his father's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) with an effective date of 5 December 1969
* his father's DD Form 214 with an effective date of 27 November 1972
* an application for his father's government headstone or marker
* a police report dated 9 August 2009
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. The FSM enlisted in the Regular Army on 3 April 1969 for a period of
3 years. He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was awarded the military occupational specialty of 11B (Infantryman). He reenlisted on 6 December 1969 for a period of 3 years.
2. The FSM served in the Republic of Vietnam from 8 September 1969 to
7 September 1970.
3. Item 40 (Wounds) of the FSM's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.
4. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of the FSM's DA Form 20 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
5. On 27 November 1972, the FSM was honorably released from active duty due to the expiration of term of service. He had completed 2 years, 11 months, and 22 days of total active service that was characterized as honorable. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart
6. The FSM's service medical records were not available for review. There are no orders in his Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ) awarding him the Purple Heart. His name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Listing.
7. A 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 for the FSM.
8. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), then in effect, provided that the Purple Heart was awarded to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services had been wounded, killed, or who had died as a result of 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are no orders in the FSM's MPRJ or in ADCARS awarding him the Purple Heart. Item 40 of his DA Form 20 contains no entries and his name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Listing.
2. In the absence of military records which show the FSM was wounded as a result of a hostile action and the wound required treatment by medical personnel there is insufficient substantive evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.
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 his father in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his father's 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) AR20100017667
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100017667
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