BOARD DATE:	  20 December 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110012510 


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 Combat Infantryman Badge and two awards of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  he was involved in missions, operations, and battles in Vietnam.  He was also attached to almost all the infantry units in the 1st Division on search and destroy missions and road clearing operations.  He believes this should warrant a Combat Infantryman Badge.

	b.  the first incident he believes warrants a Purple Heart was in April/May 1966.  He showed a sergeant how to shoot a flare from an M-14 and told the sergeant to wait until he was back in his hole before he fired it.  The sergeant didn't wait.  He was half way to the hole when the sergeant fired.  He dove in the hole and bullets were hitting around him.  One round hit his ammunition and canteen belt and his right hand and arm.  He went to the aid station and a medic removed the pieces in his hand and arm.  The medic told him to sign the form and get a Purple Heart but he saw medics working on the sergeant who fired the flare and he told the medic to give it to the sergeant because he needed it more than him.


	c.  the second incident was on 4 May 1966.  He was injured by a homemade claymore while clearing a road.  He had minor wounds on his hands and arms.  He doesn't remember much but he thinks he treated himself.      

3.  The applicant provides a statement of his combat history (missions, operations, and battles). 

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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 29 August 1963 for a period of 3 years.  He was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 12B (combat engineer).  He served in MOS 12B assigned to Company A, 1st Engineer Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam from January 1966 to August 1966.  On 23 August 1966, he was released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) to complete his remaining service obligation.

3.  His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show the Combat Infantryman Badge or Purple Heart as authorized awards.  Item 27 (Wounds Received as a Result of Action with Enemy Forces) of his DD Form 214 shows the entry "NONE." 

4.  There are no orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or Purple Heart in the available records.

5.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.  His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.  



6.  Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show the Combat Infantryman Badge or Purple Heart.

7.  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.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size.  Additionally, appendix V of U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provides that during the Vietnam era the Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11D, 11F, 11G, or 11H.

9.  U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Awards and Decorations) governed award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to Army forces operating in South 
Vietnam.  This regulation stated that criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge identified the man who trained, lived, and fought as an infantryman and that the Combat Infantryman Badge was the unique award established to recognize the infantryman and only the infantryman for his service.  Further, "the Combat Infantryman Badge is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day-to-day combat."  This regulation also stated the Combat Infantryman Badge was authorized for award to infantry officers, to enlisted personnel, and to warrant officers who had an infantry MOS and required that they must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental, or smaller size.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states 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 contends he was involved in missions, operations, and battles in Vietnam which warrant the Combat Infantryman Badge.  However, the 


evidence of record shows he served as a combat engineer assigned to an engineer battalion during his assignment in Vietnam.  There is no evidence of record which shows he was an infantryman.  Therefore, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  The applicant requests two awards of the Purple Heart.

3.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards.  The Purple Heart requires:

* a wound was the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by military medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
* official orders awarding the decoration

4.  He indicates he was first wounded by a flare from a fellow Soldier's M-14 rifle, this is not the result of hostile action. 

5.  Although he contends he was injured a second time by a homemade claymore while clearing a road, no evidence shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam and he stated he thought he treated himself.    

6.  The record shows the applicant clearly served in Vietnam and was a combat engineer.  While the sincerity of the applicant’s statements that he suffered wounds is not questioned, there simply is insufficient evidence to support any 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)                                         AR20110012510





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110012510



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