BOARD DATE:	  3 February 2011 

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20100018948 


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 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart, Combat Medical Badge, and Army Aviator Badge.

2.  The applicant states he was given the Purple Heart in April 1969 for injuries that he received on 23 February 1969 but the Purple Heart is not recorded on his DD Form 214.  He states he received a round in the left arm and he was hit in the right knee while riding in a helicopter over a field of fire.  He further states he flew a helicopter ambulance for 6 months and 6 days in support of the infantry.

3.  The applicant provides two DD Forms 214, a statement from another Soldier, an Air Medal Citation and Certificate, a request for flight status orders (crew member), a request for transfer approval, and a U.S. Army Republic of Vietnam (USARV) Form 157-R (Recommendation for Decoration for Valor or Merit).

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's military records show he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) on 27 September 1966.  He completed initial entry training, was awarded military occupational specialty 91A (Medical Corpsman), and released to the USAR.

3.  On 13 May 1968, he was involuntarily ordered to active duty from the USAR.  He attained pay grade E-4 while on active duty.

4.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period 29 August 1968 through on or about         6 August 1969 while assigned to the 312th Evacuation Hospital and the 54th Medical Detachment.

5.  He provided a USARV Form 157-R showing he was recommended for award of the Air Medal with the 1st through 16th Oak Leaf Clusters.  

6.  His DD Form 214 covering this period of service shows he was honorably released from active duty to the USAR to complete his remaining service obligation on 6 August 1969.  This form shows he completed 1 year, 2 months, and 24 days of creditable active service during this period.

7.  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, Combat Medical Badge, or the Army Aviator Badge.

8.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 contains no entries and the applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.

9.  There is no evidence in the available records showing he was ever wounded or treated for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action.

10.  The applicant's records do not contain any evidence that indicates he was ever awarded the Purple Heart by proper authority.

11.  A review of the 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for award of the Purple Heart.

12.  Headquarters, 44th Medical Brigade, Special Orders Number 323, dated 18 November 1968, show he was required to participate in aerial flight as a nonaviator crew member.

13.  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 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.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the Combat Medical Badge is awarded to medical department personnel (colonel and below) who are assigned or attached to a medical unit of company or smaller size that is organic to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size which is engaged in active ground combat.  Battle participation credit is not sufficient; the infantry unit must have been in contact with the enemy and the Soldier must have been personally present and under fire during such ground combat.

15.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the eligibility criteria for award of the Army Aviator Badge for U.S. personnel includes having satisfactorily completed prescribed training and proficiency tests as outlined in Army Regulation 600-105, and must have been designated as an aviator in orders issued by indicated headquarters.

16.  The applicant provided a statement from a fellow Soldier, dated 15 June 2005.  The fellow Soldier states he served with the applicant and they served as helicopter ambulance medics with the 54th Medical Detachment in Vietnam.  The fellow Soldier indicates he was the crew chief and he flew with the applicant on many dangerous missions.  On 23 February 1969, their helicopter received fire and he was hit by a bullet in the arm and the applicant was hit in the leg.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant and another Soldier describe how the applicant was injured by hostile fire.  Additionally, the applicant states he flew a helicopter ambulance 
6 months and 6 days in support of the infantry.  However, there is no evidence in the available record nor did the applicant provide any evidence to corroborate his witness statement which shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, or that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.


2.  The applicant's DA Form 20 does not show that he was wounded and his name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.

3.  In the absence of evidence that the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for such wounds there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart.  As a result, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart has not been satisfied in this case.  Therefore, the evidence is insufficient for granting the applicant's requested relief.

4.  There is no evidence he was assigned or attached to a medical unit of company or smaller size that was organic to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size which was engaged in active ground combat.  Therefore, the available evidence is not sufficient for award of the Combat Medical Badge.

5.  While his records provide evidence he was a nonaviator aircraft crewmember, there is no evidence he was designated as an aviator in orders.  As such, there is no basis for awarding him the Aviator Badge.

6.  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)                                         AR20100018948



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20100018948



2


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1