IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 12 April 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100023359
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 (PH) for injuries sustained to his face while serving in the line of duty in the Republic of Vietnam during the period 1967 to 1968.
2. He states, in effect, while picking up mail and payroll for his unit, he was involved in a jeep accident which resulted in a facial injury that required immediate surgery. While performing the procedure for his facial injury, the doctor informed him he would require plastic surgery upon his return to the United States.
3. He contends that while the doctor was placing the sutures in his face, the doctor also asked him if he wanted to be awarded the PH. Being only 18 years of age and newly married, he simply told the doctor no. The accident occurred in the line of duty while serving in a combat zone and he still has the scars today.
4. He provided:
* a two-page self-authored letter
* an excerpt from a website
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. His military personnel record shows he enlisted in the Regular Army on
3 March 1966 for 3 years. He served in military occupational specialty 13E (Field Artillery Operations and Intelligence Specialist).
3. His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he was honorably released from active duty on 28 February 1969, after serving 2 years, 11 months, and 28 days of net active service
and 11 months and 29 days in the U.S. Army Pacific Command.
4. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not show award of the PH.
5. His record does not contain a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) and his medical records are not available for review.
6. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
7. 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 awarding him the PH.
8. He provided a self-authored statement in which he describes his experiences while assigned to Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. He also describes his life after being separated from the Army and the various medical conditions he suffered as a result of his service in Vietnam.
9. He provided an excerpt from the Center for Military History website. This document describes some of the combat events that took place on 14 October 1967, between enemy forces and elements of A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery, in Vietnam.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the PH 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. When contemplating an award of the PH the key issue commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury. It also provides examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not justify award of the Purple Heart. This includes accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. He contends he should be awarded the PH.
2. There is no evidence of record and he has not provided sufficient evidence to show he was wounded as a result of hostile action. In addition, his own statement indicates his injuries were the result of a jeep accident, thereby indicating the enemy did not directly cause his injuries. Therefore, there is no basis for granting the requested relief.
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) AR20100023359
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100023359
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