IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 1 September 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110003507
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.
2. He states his personnel file shows he was injured in an accident, but his wounding occurred as the result of enemy action. He explains he was wounded on 10 August 1968 by an enemy combatant who was posing as a member of the Regional Forces/Popular Forces in Vietnam. He states his gunner put all the unfired mortar increments in a box so that they could be ignited in a safe area. However, before the gunner finished, one of the Vietnamese who was being trained deliberately threw a lit cigarette into the increment box. He offers that this incident caused the release of a 30 foot flame into the air and took out the command group.
3. He does not provide any additional evidence.
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 24 October 1967. He served in Vietnam from 9 April 1968 to 28 September 1968. He was honorably released from active duty on 25 August 1969.
3. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show award of the Purple Heart. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows "fragment wound to right hand, 10 August 1968." However, there is no documentation or medical evidence explaining the wounding.
5. A DA Form 2173 (Statement of Medical Examination) dated 15 August 1968 shows he was admitted to the 2nd Surgical Hospital on 15 August 1968 for a rectum puncture wound. The form stated that the applicant tripped and fell down a hill and landed rectum first on a stake.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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. The applicant's DA Form 20 shows a fragment wound to the right hand on
10 August 1968; however, this evidence alone is insufficient to conclude that he is entitled to the award of the Purple Heart. There is no evidence that his wounding was the result of hostile action.
2. There is no evidence of record and the applicant did not provide any substantive evidence that shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during his service in Vietnam. In the absence of supporting personnel or medical evidence, there is an insufficient basis to justify the award 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) AR20110003507
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110003507
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