IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 21 February 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110017127
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, in effect, correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he was shot on 25 September 1971 and has been collecting disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 1974. He states that after looking into the incident, he realized the award of the Purple Heart was omitted from his DD Form 214. He states it is a big deal and he would like his records corrected so he can get this final award.
3. The applicant provides his VA rating decision, dated 27 January 2009.
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 enlisted into the Regular Army, for a 3-year term, on 11 July 1968. He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 63A (Mechanical Maintenance Helper). The highest rank/grade he attained while serving on active duty was specialist four (SP4)/E-4.
3. On 27 March 1971, he was honorably released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve. The DD Form 214 he was issued shows:
a. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M14 and M-16), and 1 overseas service bar; and
b. Item 30 (Remarks) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam from on or about 20 April 1970 to on or about 26 March 1971.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 is blank, indicating he did not sustain any wounds during his military service.
5. His available record does not contain orders for the Purple Heart, nor does it contain any documentation pertaining to the treatment of any wounds or injuries he sustained during his service in Vietnam. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
6. 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 pertaining to the applicant.
7. He provides his VA rating decision, dated 27 January 2009. Page 3 of this document contains the entry, "We have conceded an in-service stressor due to you being shot in the right shoulder by a Vietnamese Soldier while in Vietnam. Service treatment records dated 25 September 1970, document this incident." However, these service treatment records are not contained within his available record, and he did not provide them.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. Neither his available records nor the Vietnam casualty roster provide any evidence he was wounded in Vietnam during his period of service. There is also no evidence he received any wounds, as a result of hostile action, that required treatment by medical personnel, or that the resulting medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
2. The VA rating decision he provided eludes to service treatment records that document a gunshot wound he received in Vietnam on 25 September 1970; however, these service treatment records are not contained within his available record, and he did not provide them. Therefore, the rating decision itself is insufficient to establish his combat wound.
3. In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient basis to grant relief 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 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) AR20100015543
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110017127
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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