IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 26 July 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110001420
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 the Army Commendation Medal be added to his military records and that he be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he believes he should have received the Purple Heart for injuries received at the same battle where he earned the Army Commendation Medal.
3. The applicant did not provide any additional documentation.
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 applicant's 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 applicant's 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 on 16 December 1966. He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS)
11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).
3. He served in Vietnam from 25 May 1967 through 21 May 1968.
4. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record), item 40 (Wounds), contains no entry, and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) lists the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, one Overseas Service Bar, Air Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), and two overseas service bars.
5. The applicant's DD Form 214 shows he was honorably released from active duty on 13 December 1968 as a sergeant/E-5. He had completed 1 year,
11 months, and 28 days of total active service.
6. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 shows the National Defense Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, Vietnam Service Medal with bronze service star, Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), and the Air Medal.
7. His available records do not contain orders, and he did not provide any, showing he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. A 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 Army Commendation Medal orders pertaining to the applicant.
8. His service medical records are not available. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty list.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under hostile action. A physical lesion is not required, however, the wound for which the award is made must have required treatment by medical personnel and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The Vietnam Casualty Roster does not contain the applicant's name. There is no available evidence to show he was wounded in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action.
2. There are no available orders showing he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.
3. The applicant did not provide any evidence in support of his request.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
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) AR20110001420
2
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
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