BOARD DATE:	  1 September 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110001721 


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 to be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was wounded in Vietnam on 24 December 1971 and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (BSM) but not the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant provides copies of:

* two DD Forms 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* one DD Form 214 (Report of Separation from Active Duty)
* page 4 of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record)
* his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Rating Decision

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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 30 November 1954.  He completed training as a motor transport operator and remained on active duty through a series of continuous reenlistments.  He was promoted to pay grade E-7 on 13 February 1970.

3.  He served three tours of duty in Germany.  He also served two tours of duty in Vietnam from 16 March 1966 to 15 March 1967 and from 22 December 1971 to 13 August 1972.

4.  On 30 November 1974 he was honorably retired at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and was placed on the Retired List in pay grade E-7 on 1 December 1974.  He completed 20 years and 1 day of active service and his DD Form 214 issued at the time of his retirement shows he was awarded the BSM, Army Commendation Medal (2nd Award), Army Good Conduct Medal (4th Award), National Defense Service Medal (2nd Award), Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), Vietnam Service Medal with four bronze service stars, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and the Driver and Mechanic Badge with Driver-W Bar.

5.  The copy of page 4 of his DA Form 20 submitted with his application shows the entry "Chest Frag wound" in block 40 (Wounds).  It contains no date.  The BSM orders contained in his records show he was awarded the BSM for service during the period December 1971 to July 1972.

6.  The applicant's official records do not contain copies of his medical records as the policy in effect at that time required that medical records be forwarded to the VA office nearest to the place the individual was residing after separation.  However, his personnel records show no evidence other than the incomplete entry on his DA Form 20 that he was wounded as a result of enemy action or that treatment for such wounds was made a matter of record.  Additionally, the applicant's name is not contained on the Vietnam casualty listing.

7.  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 any orders awarding him the Purple Heart.

8.  The VA Rating Decision provided by the applicant shows he was granted service-connected compensation for a shell fragment wound and blast injury to his right shoulder with retained foreign body and he was also granted combat-related special compensation for a shoulder muscle injury effective 1 January 2004.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the sincerity of the applicant's claim that he was wounded in Vietnam is not in doubt, he failed to show through the available evidence of record and the evidence submitted with his application that he was wounded as a result of enemy action and that the treatment for his wound(s) was made a matter of record.

2.  The award of the Purple Heart is tied to specific criteria which consist of a date the event occurred, the individual being wounded as a result of enemy action, treatment by medical personnel, and the treatment being made a matter of record.  None of these elements are present in the available evidence.

3.  Therefore, in the absence of such evidence, there appears to be no basis to award him the Purple Heart at this time.

4.  In order to justify correction of a military record, the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant failed to submit evidence that would satisfy this requirement.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___x___  ___x_____  ____x____  DENY APPLICATION



BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to the United States during the Vietnam War.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.



      __________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)                                         AR20110001721



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110001721



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