IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 13 April 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100024269
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.
2. The applicant states he has a shrapnel wound on his lower back which was noted on his retirement physical. The shrapnel was from a grenade that went off while he was in the Republic of Vietnam. He was supposed to have had a Purple Heart awarded for this injury but it did not happen.
3. The applicant provides:
* one page of his Standard Form (SF) 88 (Report of Medical Examination) for his retirement physical examination
* his DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from Active Duty) for the period ending 28 November 1978
* his DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) for the period ending 31 October 1988
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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 29 December 1967 for a period of 3 years. He completed basic combat and advanced individual training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 13B (Cannon Crewman).
3. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from 19 May 1968 to 13 May 1969.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.
5. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
6. The applicant's complete service medical records were not available for review. The SF 88, dated 3 October 1988, for his retirement physical indicated he had a vertical scar on his right lower back. The form also contains a note indicating he had a shrapnel wound on his lower back.
7. On 15 December 1970, he was honorably discharged for the purpose of immediate reenlistment. He had completed 2 years, 11 months, and 17 days of total active service. He reenlisted on the following day. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 for this period of service does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
8. There are no orders in his military personnel record awarding him the Purple Heart and his name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty listing.
9. 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 pertaining to the applicant.
10. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), then in effect, provided that the Purple Heart was awarded to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services had been wounded, killed, or who had died as a result of 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are no orders in the applicant's official military personnel file or in ADCARS awarding him the Purple Heart. Item 40 of the applicant's DA Form 20 is blank and he is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing.
2. The notes concerning the scar on his back on his SF 88 were reviewed. The indication that it was from shrapnel wound was likely provided by a medical history provided by the applicant. The determination of the etiology of the scar by the physician over 20 years after the fact cannot be ascertained.
3. In the absence of evidence showing he was wounded as result of hostile action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment was made a matter of official record there is an insufficient basis to award the Purple Heart in this case.
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) AR20100024269
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100024269
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