IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 3 February 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100020586
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 7 June 1988 DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. He states in 1972 he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) and the Purple Heart. He adds that he received the certificates and orders when he was recovering in the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Japan, but they were subsequently destroyed by a typhoon.
3. He provides a copy of his DD Form 214.
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 Regular Army on 4 December 1970. He served in Vietnam from 30 October 1971 to 18 June 1972. He was honorably discharged on 7 June 1988.
3. 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. Although this form shows he was awarded the BSM, there are no orders or a certificate citing the reason for the award.
4. Item 38 (Record of Assignments) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show he was medically evacuated to the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Japan or spent time in a patient status. Item 40 (Wounds) of this form shows no entries of any wounds received.
5. The available records contain no documentation showing he sustained wounds or was treated for wounds incurred as a result of hostile action. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
6. 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 the Purple Heart or the BSM.
7. 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
Although the applicant's DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the BSM, there are no orders or a certificate showing the basis for the award; therefore, it cannot be determined if the BSM and the PH are related. There are no general orders available awarding him the Purple Heart. There are no medical records available showing he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during his service in Vietnam. Therefore, in the absence of medical records or other corroborating evidence to support his contention, there is an insufficient basis for correcting his records to show 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 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) AR20100020586
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