IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 1 March 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110018037
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 the Purple Heart (PH) be added to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
2. The applicant states he was awarded the PH for wounds received in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) and it is not listed on his DD Form 214.
3. The applicant provides a PH certificate in support of his application.
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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 9 October 1968, and was trained in and awarded military occupational specialty 76S (Auto Repair Parts Specialist).
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he arrived in the RVN on 20 March 1969. Item 38 (Record of Assignments) shows the applicant entered a patient status in the RVN on 12 May 1969 and he was medically evacuated to Fort Carson, Colorado on 21 May 1969.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicant's DA Form 20 is blank and the PH is not included in the list of awards contained in item 41 (Awards and Decorations). Item 48 (Date of Audit) shows the applicant last audited the DA Form 20 on
4 June 1970.
5. The applicants Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ) is void of orders or documents indicating he was wounded in action in the RVN. It is also void of medical treatment records indicating he was ever treated for a combat-related wound.
6. On 8 October 1970, the applicant was honorably released from active duty, in the rank of private first class, after completing 2 years of active military service. The PH is not included in the list of earned awards on the DD Form 214 issued to him at the time.
7. The applicant provides a PH certificate, dated 5 May 1969, which shows the applicant was awarded the PH for being wounded in action in the RVN on 4 May 1969.
8. During the processing of this case, a staff member of the Board reviewed the DA Vietnam Casualty Roster. The applicant's name was not included on the roster.
9. 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 orders for the PH.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides the Army's awards policy. Paragraph 2-8 contains guidance on the PH. It states the PH is awarded to members wounded in action. It also states in order to award the PH there must be evidence of the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and a record of the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's request to add the PH to his DD Form 214 has been carefully considered. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this request.
2. By regulation, in order to support award of the PH the member must have been wounded in action and there must be evidence the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound must have required medical treatment by medical personnel, and this medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
3. Although the applicant provides a PH certificate and his record shows he entered a patient status, on 12 May 1969, and he was ultimately medically evacuated from the RVN, there are no medical treatment records confirming treatment for a combat related wound, or orders authorizing and announcing award of the PH in the MPRJ. Further, item 40 of the applicants DA Form 20 is blank, which indicates he was never wounded in action, and the PH is not included in the list of earned awards in item 41.
4. Absent evidence of record corroborating the information contained in the PH certificate provided by the applicant or information that confirms he was wounded as a result of enemy action while serving in the RVN there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to support granting the 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 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) AR20110017852
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110018037
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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