IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 27 July 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100029802
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, in effect, reconsideration of his appeal for award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that there was either inadvertence or neglect that caused the failure to describe how his injury occurred.
3. The applicant provides a copy of a 28 July 1967 medical record entry and a history of the 26th Engineer Battalion. It commences with the formation of the unit in December 1967 and covers until late March 1968.
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR94-12742 on 24 January 1996.
2. The case is being considered by the Board as an exception to policy in order to address the implied contention that the 28 July 1967 medical record entry is relevant new evidence that warrants the requested relief.
3. In the original case the applicant maintained that he should be awarded the Purple Heart because he had been sent to a field hospital for x-rays of his face and eye and removal of some metal fragments. There was no evidence of treatment and no substantiation that he had received any wound as the result of enemy action. The request was denied.
4. The 28 July 1967 medical record the applicant provided states he was treated for a laceration of the left forearm. It does not indicate how the injury occurred.
5. In a 25 October 1991 rating decision, the Department of Veterans Affairs noted that there was no evidence in the applicant's service medical records of such an injury.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There is no available evidence that the laceration of the applicant's forearm left forearm that was treated on 28 October 1967 was caused by enemy action.
2. In light of the applicant's previous assertion that he deserved the Purple Heart because of a face and eye wound, his current claim that a medical record of a laceration on his arm of some unknown origin warrants the award is unconvincing.
3. The applicant did not explain what relevance he attaches to the unit history. Considering that it does not mention him and was written months after he now claims to have been wounded by the enemy, its relevance is not apparent.
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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR94-12742 dated 24 January 1996.
_______ _ __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) AR20100029802
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20100029802
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