IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 10 January 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110011243
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 his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) be corrected to show his foreign service in the Republic of Vietnam and award of the Purple Heart.
2. He states, in effect, his service in Vietnam is not listed on his DD Form 214. He adds he served as a gunner on the Howitzer with the 175th Artillery. He maintains he was shot in his right foot and cut on his head and eyelid.
3. He provides two DD Forms 214 and his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record).
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's record shows he enlisted in the Army National Guard on
1 September 1960. He was ordered to active duty for training on 24 September 1960 and honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) on 17 March 1961. He completed 5 months and 24 days of net active service with no foreign service.
3. On 31 December 1962, he enlisted in the Regular Army. He completed
1 year, 11 months, and 28 days of net active service and he was honorably REFRAD on 21 January 1966.
4. Item 24c (Foreign and/or Sea Service) of his 21 January 1966 DD Form 214 shows he was credited with 1 year, 11 months, and 20 days of foreign service in United States Army Europe (USAREUR). Item 27 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) lists "None."
5. His DA Form 20 shows in:
a. Item 31 (Foreign Service), USAREUR, from 6 June 1963 to 25 May 1965.
b. Item 38 (Record of Assignments) show:
* 31 December 1962, B Battery, 29th Artillery Regiment, Fort Benning, GA
* 16 June 1963, C Battery, 1st Battalion, 75th Artillery Regiment, USAREUR
* 10 August 1964, U.S. Army Garrison Southern Area Command, Nurnberg, USAREUR
* 22 November 1964, C Battery, 28th Artillery Regiment, USAREUR
* 13 July 1965, A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Artillery Regiment, Fort Sill, OK
* 19 October 1965, A Battery, 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 2nd Artillery Regiment, Fort Sill, OK
* 21 January 1966, REFRAD and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve
c. Item 40 (Wounds) contains no entries indicating any wounds were received.
6. The available records contain no documentation showing he sustained wounds or was treated for wounds incurred as a result of hostile action. Additionally, there is no evidence that he served in Vietnam and his name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
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 for the Purple Heart.
8. 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 that 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. There is no evidence to support the applicant's contention that he served in Vietnam. In fact, the evidence suggests he spent his entire period of foreign service (1 year, 11 months, and 20 days) in USAREUR and returned to Fort Sill, prior to his REFRAD.
2. There is no evidence of record and he did not provide any substantive evidence that shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action. In the absence of supporting personnel or medical evidence, there is an insufficient basis to justify award of the Purple Heart.
3. In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting his 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.
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110011243
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110011243
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