IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 4 October 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110007987
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 correction of his records to show the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he was injured on three different assignments while in the Republic of Vietnam. The North Vietnamese dropped mortars on them while they were in bunkers. He was a sergeant and he made sure everyone was out of the bunker. When he started out of the bunker, a mortar hit directly in front of him and he was knocked out. He received shrapnel wounds, flash burns, and was bleeding from his ears. He was sent to base camp to be cleaned up and the medical staff removed metal from his face and arm, cleaned his ears and patched his cuts. He was sent back out to the hard spot because he was the only radio operator they had.
3. The applicant provides no 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 on 29 May 1968 and upon completion of initial entry training was awarded military occupational specialty 36K (Field Wireman).
3. Item 31 (Foreign Service) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the RVN from 9 January 1969 to 25 November 1969. Item 40 (Wounds) is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart.
4. There is no evidence in his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) that indicates he was ever recommended for or awarded the Purple Heart or that he was ever treated for a combat-related wound. His name is no listed in the Vietnam casualty roster.
5. He was honorably released from active duty on 30 January 1970. Item 24 (Decoration, 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 include the Purple Heart.
6. 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 United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
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 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 request for award of the Purple Heart based on wounds he received while in the RVN has been carefully considered.
2. His record do not contain any documentation indicating he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action as outlined in the governing regulation. His name is not included on the Vietnam casualty roster.
3. Based on the above, there is no basis to grant the 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.
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