IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 26 July 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110001363
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 two Purple Hearts.
2. He states he was wounded in approximately July and October 1968.
3. He provides no evidence in support of his application.
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 1 February 1967. After completing initial entry training, he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). He was honorably
released from active duty on 24 January 1969 after completing 1 year, 11 months, and 24 days of total active service.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he was credited with service in Vietnam from 1 February 1968 to 20 January 1969. Item 40 (Wounds) is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show he was awarded any Purple Hearts.
4. His complete service medical records are not available to the Board for review. Item 17 (Statement of Examinee's Present Health in Own Words) of a Standard Form (SF) 89 (Report of Medical History) completed at Fort Lewis, WA, prior to his release from active service shows he stated he had received shrapnel wounds. Item 39 (Physician's Summary and Elaboration of All Pertinent Data) shows the examining physician noted he had received fragment wounds of the left elbow and chin in 1968. The SF 89 does not show the source of the shrapnel that caused the wounds.
5. His record does not contain orders awarding him the Purple Heart.
6. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty listing.
7. 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 any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
8. 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:
The evidence of record indicates the applicant received shrapnel wounds to his left elbow and chin during his service in Vietnam. However, the evidence of
record does not show he incurred these injuries while in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. In the absence of such evidence, regrettably, there is an insufficient basis for awarding him any Purple Heart or correcting his DD Form 214 to show any awards of the Purple Heart.
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) AR20110001363
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110001363
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