IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 17 February 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100019363
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.
2. The applicant states he was shot in the right forearm and left ankle and dislocated his shoulder in Vietnam and it was overlooked at the time of his separation for disability.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from Active Duty), a copy of orders placing him on the Temporary Disability Retired List (TDRL), a copy of his Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) Form 12e (CRSC Reconsideration Request), and a copy of his Department of Veterans Affairs Rating Decision.
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 born on 17 September 1956 and enlisted in the Regular Army in Jackson, Mississippi, on 16 June 1974 for a period of 3 years, training as field radio mechanic, and assignment to Fort Hood, Texas.
3. He completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and advanced individual training (AIT) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Fort Gordon, Georgia, before being transferred to Fort Hood, Texas, for his first and only duty assignment.
4. On 29 July 1976, he was placed on the TDRL with a 50-percent disability rating in pay grade E-4. On 31 January 1981, he was permanently retired by reason of physical disability with a 50-percent disability rating due to schizophrenia. He completed 2 years, 1 month, and 23 days of total active service.
5. There is no evidence in the available records to show he ever served overseas, that he ever engaged the enemy in combat, or that he was ever wounded as a result of enemy action.
6. 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 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. The applicant's contention that he was shot in Vietnam and should have been awarded the Purple Heart has been noted and is found to lack merit. He failed to show through the evidence submitted and the evidence of record that he ever served in Vietnam or any other overseas theater or that he was wounded as a result of enemy action.
2. The applicant enlisted at the age of 18 and his only permanent duty assignment was the one for which he enlisted. He was assigned to Fort Hood for the duration of his service until he was placed on the TDRL.
3. Absent sufficient evidence to support his claim, there appears to be no basis to award him the Purple Heart.
4. In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear that the record is in error or unjust. The applicant has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy the aforementioned requirement.
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 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) AR20100019363
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100019363
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