IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 3 May 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100025656
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 for injuries sustained in Vietnam in March 1968.
2. He states he was injured in Dak To, Vietnam in March 1968 while working as a combat engineer and he was medically evacuated to Pla Kao.
3. He provides no additional documents.
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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 29 August 1967.
3. His DA Form 20 shows in:
* Item 31 (Foreign Service) - he served in Vietnam from 6 February 1968 to 5 February 1969
* Item 38 (Record of Assignments) does not show he was hospitalized in a patient status at any time
* Item 40 (Wounds) no entries
* Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not list the Purple Heart
4. His service record does not contain any orders which show he was awarded the Purple Heart or medical documentation which shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. The Vietnam Casualty Roster does not list his name.
5. He was discharged on 20 February 1970. His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
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 orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants service record does not contain any orders which authorized him award of the Purple Heart or evidence to show he was wounded in March 1968. In addition, his name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster.
2. In the absence of evidence to show he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of 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) AR20100025656
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100025656
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