IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 9 August 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110001852
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 (PH).
2. He states, in effect, his injury is recorded in his medical records but the PH was not entered on his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
3. He provides:
* a letter to him from the National Personnel Records Center
* his DD Form 214
* several pages from his service medical records
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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 27 September 1967. After completing initial entry training, he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman) and assigned for duty in Vietnam with Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), where he served from 19 March 1968 to 8 March 1969. He was honorably released from active duty on 18 September 1970 after completing 2 years, 11 months, and 22 days of total active service.
3. A Standard Form 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care) shows he received a puncture wound to his right foot on 16 February 1969. The form shows he was given penicillin and a tetanus vaccination and returned to duty. The form does not show the cause of the injury.
4. The record is void of documentation showing he was awarded the PH.
5. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
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 Awards and Decorations Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal orders awarding the PH to him.
7. 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 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 a puncture wound to his right foot during his service in Vietnam. However, the available documentation does not show he incurred this injury while in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. In the absence of such evidence, there is an insufficient basis for awarding him the Purple Heart or correcting his record to show this award.
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) AR20110001852
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110001852
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