IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 23 February 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110017900
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 an earlier request for a second award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states:
a. he originally requested two awards of the Purple Heart. He received one award and was denied the other one.
b. in January/February 1969, while on a convoy delivering supplies, they were attacked. They fought back the sniper, mortar, and rocket-propelled grenade attack and took hits that wounded several Soldiers and the medic. The applicant noticed he was hit and bleeding and the medic bandaged his wound. Then another mortar hit and the medic was wounded. He doesnt see how the medic could have written any kind of report as he was evacuated. He didnt report it to the landing zone commander because they left the next morning enroute to their base camp.
c. some 38 years later a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctor verifies he has shrapnel in his left wrist from this attack.
3. The applicant provides a personal statement.
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 AR20100018343, on 18 January 2011.
2. The applicants arguments are new evidence that will be considered by the Board.
3. The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 20 February 1968. He served as a light vehicle driver in Vietnam from 13 July 1968 to 12 July 1969. On 26 January 1970, he was honorably released from active duty at the expiration of his term of service. He was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining service obligation.
4. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
5. His service medical records, to include his separation physical examination documents, are not available. The Vietnam casualty roster shows he was wounded in action on 25 March 1969.
6. As a result of his original ABCMR case, Permanent orders, dated 2 May 2011, awarded him the Purple Heart for wounds received in action in Vietnam on 25 March 1969.
7. A DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214), dated 5 May 2011, shows the Purple Heart was added to item 24 of his DD Form 214.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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 was also wounded in January/February 1969 during a mortar attack in Vietnam.
2. 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
3. The applicants service medical records are not available. His separation physical examination documents, which might have mentioned two separate woundings, are not available. The preponderance of evidence in this case shows he was wounded once, as a result of hostile action on 25 March 1969. Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to base a second 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20100018343, dated 18 January 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) AR20110017900
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110017900
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