IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 6 December 2011
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110011545
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 to be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. He states the injury he incurred in the jungles of Vietnam north of Phouc Vinh which went unreported should have resulted in award of a Purple Heart. He states he has a scar and indentation on his front shin and possibly damage on the bone. The pain, although not grave, is bothersome with weather changes. He states the injury was treated by a medic but was never reported for unknown reasons, though it may have been due to the chaos at the time.
3. He provides his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
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 applicant's 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 applicant's 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 military records show he enlisted in the Regular Army on 6 January 1970.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he performed duties as a radar operator while he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion (Mechanized), 22d Infantry, 25th Infantry Division; Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile); and Company E, 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile); during his tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam during the period 31 May 1970 to 2 April 1971.
4. His DD Form 214 shows he was honorably released from active duty on 15 November 1971. He completed a total of 1 year, 10 months, and 10 days of active service.
5. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
6. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of this form does not show the Purple Heart.
7. Review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not contain the applicant's name.
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 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 contends he incurred an injury in the jungles of Vietnam which was treated by a medic but went unreported. However, there is no evidence in his available military personnel records nor sufficient corroborating evidence provided by him which shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
2. The applicant's DA Form 20 does not show he was wounded and his name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing.
3. In the absence of evidence showing the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for such wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart. As a result, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart has not been satisfied in this case. Therefore, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's 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 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) AR20110011545
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110011545
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