IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 17 February 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100019766
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 correction of his
DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show this award.
2. The applicant states, in effect, he served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) for thirteen months and received shrapnel wounds that were never recorded. He states he still has the metal in his body to prove it.
3. The applicant provides his DD Form 214 and a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Form 10-9034 (Radiology/Nuclear Medicine Report).
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's record shows he was inducted into the Army of the United States, for a 24 month term, on 29 January 1969. He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 31B (Field Radio Mechanic).
3. Records show he served in the RVN from on or about 22 July 1969 to 2 May 1970. During this time he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion (Airmobile), 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile).
4. His DD Form 214 shows he was honorably released from active duty on 4 September 1970 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group to complete the remainder of his service obligation. His DD Form 214 shows he completed 1 year, 7 months, and 6 days of net service during this period of active duty, including 1 year, 1 month, and 11 days of foreign service.
5. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the:
* National Defense Service Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal
* Vietnam Campaign Medal (formally known as the RVN Campaign Medal with Device (1960))
* Army Commendation Medal
* Bronze Star Medal
6. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record), item 40 (Wounds), does not contain any entries identifying casualty wounds sustained during his service in Vietnam.
7. His available record does not contain any orders for the Purple Heart, nor does his name appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
8. A review of the applicant's available medical documents did not reveal any information pertaining to the treatment of any wounds or injuries sustained by the applicant during his service in Vietnam.
9. 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.
10. The applicant provided a VA Form 10-9034, from the Jackson, MS VA Medical Center, which references the presence of a small metallic fragment in the superficial soft tissues of the anterior mid-thigh of the right femur.
11. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or 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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's request for award of award of the Purple Heart, and correction of his DD Form 214 to show this award was carefully considered; however, there is insufficient evidence to support his request.
2. Notwithstanding the evidence he provided, neither his available records, nor the Vietnam casualty roster, provide any evidence he was wounded in the RVN, that those wounds were the result of hostile action that required treatment, or that the resulting medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
3. In view of the foregoing, there is insufficient basis on which to grant award of the Purple Heart.
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) AR20100015543
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100019766
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