IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  20 December 2011

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110012641 


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 reconsideration of his request for award of the Purple Heart.  

2.  He states:

	a.  the letter [previous proceedings] from the Board stated his records were lost in a fire; therefore, it couldn't be determined that his name was placed on the direct casualty roster for the Vietnam War;

	b.  the entry "Dir Cas" [direct casualty] is recorded on the DA Form 8-275-3 (Clinical Record Cover Sheet) he provided;

	c.  he provided quotes from the Admitting Officer who is a renowned physician in the field of Nephrology [study of kidneys] in Newark, NJ;

	d.  he cited an inconsistency on his first application by stating "I collapsed from the injury I sustained while on 'shoulder to shoulder' sweep of a possible 'enemy' compromised area, in performance of my military duty in the active 
war-zone of Vietnam";

	e.  he clarified the incidents surrounding his injury while he was performing a military sweep in Vietnam:

   (1)  he fell to the ground unconscious and dying with a dangerously high fever from a wound caused by a punji stick-type object that had pierced through his boot and into his body;
   
   (2)  he doesn't remember being picked up off the ground or being transported to the 3rd Field Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam;
   
   (3)  he remembers the doctor telling him that he needed to operate on his injury right away;
   
   (4)  he survived the severe pain and he recuperated in the field hospital while being treated with a sweating-wrap to soak the poison gradually from his body; and 
   
   (5)  he deserves the Purple Heart based on meeting the specified criteria.

3.  He provides page 4 of his DA Form 8-275-3 and two letters from a physician and his girlfriend.  

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20100019690 on 17 February 2011.

2.  The applicant provided new evidence and arguments that will be considered by the Board.  

3.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 2 February 1967 and was discharged on 29 February 1968 for the purpose of immediate reenlistment.  He served in Vietnam from 3 May 1969 to 2 May 1970.  

4.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:

* item 38 (Record of Assignments), no record of being hospitalized in a patient status at any time
* item 40 (Wounds), no entries [blank]
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations), no award of the Purple Heart 

5.  His service record does not contain orders which show he was awarded the Purple Heart or that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.  
6.  The Vietnam Casualty Roster does not list his name.

7.  He provided page 4 of a DA Form 8-275-3, dated 18 January 1970, which shows he was admitted to the 3rd Field Hospital Saigon, Vietnam on 16 January 1970.  He was diagnosed as having a fever [undetermined origin] and an abscess on his right heel.  He highlighted the following items on this document which shows in:

* Block 13 (Organization and Branch of Service), he was assigned to Headquarters, 4th Transportation Command
* Block 20 (Source of Admission), the entry "Dir Cas, Prop Sta, Long Binh" 
* Block 21 (Admitting Officer), he was admitted to this medical facility by a major medical officer
* Block 23 (Diagnoses), his diagnoses were in the line of duty
* Block 28 (Nature of Disposition), he was on duty
* Block 32 (Name and Location of Medical Treatment Facility), he was admitted to the 3rd Field Hospital in Saigon, Vietnam

8.  The applicant provided a letter, dated 19 May 2011, from a physician at the Essex Kidney Group, Newark, NJ who stated:  

   a.  the applicant's clinical record Fact Sheet indicated he was treated, by this same physician, for an abscess of the right heel and also for a fever of undetermined origin;
   
   b.  the manner of treatment was not presented nor was there any other documentation concerning how the abscess developed;
   
   c.  the applicant was hospitalized for only two days; therefore, his hospital chart would consist only of a "short form";
   
   d.  the Fact Sheet doesn't specifically indicate that the heel abscess was obtained from a combat wound, but "certainly a heel abscess developing in an otherwise healthy young man would almost always be the result of a penetrating wound, and in Vietnam a punji stick was the most common cause"; 

	e.  he verified the dates in question were consistent with the time he was stationed at the 3rd Field Hospital and he did indeed treat patients with foot wounds due to penetration by punji stick booby traps; and


	f.  he believed that the clinical record Fact Sheet was an authentic U.S. Army document.

9.  He also provided a letter, undated, from his girlfriend who stated:

* she has been with the applicant since 1993
* the applicant has constant intense stress and takes medicines given to him for his condition 
* doctors say the applicant has service-connected Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
* the applicant has a big scar on his leg near his heel 
* the applicant should not have been released from the hospital for such an injury in only a matter of days

10.  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.

11.  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.  

12.  Paragraph 2-8b(2) of Army Regulation 600-8-22 states that for the purpose of considering an award of the Purple Heart, a “wound” is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained while in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy.  The regulation states that the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury.  The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.  

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Vietnam Casualty Roster is a separate database that lists Soldiers who were wounded in action [hospitalized, seriously wounded, not seriously wounded, 


or returned to duty] during the Vietnam War era.  It was not affected by the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  However, the applicant's name is not listed on this roster.  

2.  Although the applicant's DA Form 8-275-3 indicates the entry "Dir Cas" denoting direct casualty, his service record is void of evidence that he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.

3.  The physician's letter was reviewed.  However, the physician stated the Fact Sheet doesn't specifically indicate that the applicant's heel abscess was obtained from a combat wound.  He alluded to the fact that the injury could have been the "result of a penetrating wound."  

4.  The applicant contends he was wounded by a "punji stick-type" object that had pierced through his boot into his body during a military sweep in Vietnam.  By regulation, in order to award the Purple Heart it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded in action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  

5.  The statements from the Attending Officer and the applicant's girlfriend were carefully reviewed.  Regrettably, these statements alone are not sufficient to meet the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart in this case.  

6.  In the absence of any other corroborating evidence of record which shows the applicant was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.  

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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20100019690, dated 17 February 2011.




      _______ _   _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)                                         AR20110012641





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110012641



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