BOARD DATE: 20 October 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110008303
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 Purple Heart be added to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
2. The applicant states he was shot in Vietnam in November 1965 while a member of the 1st Air Cavalry.
3. The applicant provides no documentary 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 9 December 1963. His DA Form 24 (Service Record) shows he served as a light weapons infantryman assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry of the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam from 15 September 1965 to 20 November 1965. On
7 December 1965, he was honorably released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve to complete his remaining service obligation.
3. Item 26 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. Item 27 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) shows the entry "NONE."
4. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.
5. Section 8 (Wounds Received Through Enemy Action) of his DA Form 24 is blank. Section 9 (Medals, Decorations, and Citations) of his DA Form 24 does not show the Purple Heart.
6. The applicant's name appears three times on the Vietnam casualty roster; however, the last number of the service number shown on the roster is "8" and his records show the last number of his service number is "9." All three entries show he was wounded on 19 November 1965; however, one entry shows casualty status code 53 (Non-hostile wounded/ill/injured/Special Category), one entry shows casualty status code 25 (Hostile wounded in action/Not serious, not hospitalized, no notify), and the third entry does not show a casualty status code.
7. On 7 December 1965, he underwent a separation physical examination and he did not mention any injuries or wounds sustained as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
8. 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 any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
9. 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 military personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The three entries on the Vietnam casualty roster were noted. However, the evidence is contradictory (hostile and non-hostile) and one digit of the service number is incorrect.
2. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records. The preponderance of evidence in this case does not show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to base adding the Purple Heart at this time.
3. If the applicant can provide corroborating evidence to show he was wounded as a result of enemy action and treated for those wounds (e.g., service medical records) he may request reconsideration.
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) AR20110008303
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