IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 1 February 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100019106
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 he be awarded the Purple Heart due to exposure to Agent Orange and for hearing loss Tinnitus.
2. The applicant states, in effect, that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for his exposure to Agent Orange and his loss of hearing from being around weapons firing.
3. The applicant provides no additional documents with his application.
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 applicants 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 applicants 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 22 January 1970. He completed basic training and advanced individual training as an infantry indirect fire crewman and he was transferred to Vietnam on 21 August 1970.
3. Initially, he was assigned to Company A, then he was transferred to Company E, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade.
4. On 25 August 1971, he departed Vietnam and he was transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington where he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) as an overseas returnee. He had served 1 year, 7 months, and
4 days of total active service and he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Bronze Star Medal.
5. A review of the available records and the Vietnam Casualty Listing failed to reveal that the applicant was wounded as a result of enemy action or that he was reported as a casualty. Additionally, there are no orders awarding him the Purple Heart.
6. 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 United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart.
7. A review of his final separation physical/medical examination shows no indication that the applicant was wounded or injured or that he was suffering a hearing loss.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the sincerity of the applicants claim that he should have been awarded the Purple Heart is not in doubt, there simply is no evidence in the available records to show that he was treated for wounds or injuries that were the result of enemy action. Therefore, in the absence of such evidence there is no basis to award him the Purple Heart at this time.
2. The applicant has failed to show through the evidence or record and evidence submitted with his application that he meets the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.
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 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) AR20100019106
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100019106
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