IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 19 April 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100023820
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).
2. He states he was wounded on his forearms and face by white phosphorus due to enemy fire on or about 10 July 1969. He was treated on that date and again on 16 July 1969. The wound was never recorded for award of the PH and no follow-up was done. He presumed the 8th Field Hospital had forwarded the PH recommendation.
3. He provides a Standard Form 513 (Consultation Sheet) and two of his DD Forms 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
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. Following a period of service in the National Guard, the applicant enlisted in the Regular Army (RA) on 12 April 1949. He had a brief break in service in 1955. He enlisted in the RA on 15 July 1955 and served in an active duty status until he was honorably retired on 30 November 1972. He completed 23 years, 6 months, and 1 day of total active service.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record), item 31 (Foreign Service) shows he served in Vietnam from 14 May 1968 to 21 September 1971. Item 40 (Wounds) contains no entries.
4. His record includes a Standard Form 513 that shows on 16 July 1969 a physician at the 8th Field Hospital requested that the applicant be evaluated by a surgeon for white phosphorus burns of the forearm and face. The burns were incurred 6 days earlier. The Consultation Report section of the form shows, in effect, he was cleared to travel to Saigon and go on leave. He was also instructed to continue to change the dressing on his wounds. The form does not show the source of the white phosphorus that caused his wounds.
5. His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty roster.
6. His record does not contain general orders showing he was awarded the PH.
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 Awards and Decorations Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal orders awarding him the PH.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the PH is awarded for a wound sustained while 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 by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
9. U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) stated the authority to award the PH was delegated to hospital commanders. It directed that all personnel treated and released within 24 hours would be awarded the PH by the organization to which the individual was assigned. Personnel requiring hospitalization in excess of 24 hours or evacuation from Vietnam would be awarded the PH directly by the hospital commander rendering treatment.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The evidence of record does not support the applicant's request for award of the PH.
2. The available records do not confirm the source of the white phosphorus that caused his burns.
3. In the absence of military records confirming his wounds were the result of hostile action, there is an insufficient basis for award of the PH.
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) AR20100023820
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100023820
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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