IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  26 April 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110019235 


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 Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he was wounded in Vietnam on 30 March 1967.  He never thought the Purple Heart was important until recently when he began attending sessions at the local veterans' center.  He stated:

	a.  He fractured a bone in his left ankle while rappelling from a helicopter during advanced long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) training.  While he was laid-up his unit moved away and he ended up going on a damage assessment patrol with a group of men he did not know.

	b.  On the second night out the point man hit a tripwire and he (the point man) was seriously wounded by a booby trap.  While trying to evacuate this casualty they took considerable enemy fire and he was hit in the thigh.  The fragment hit the thigh bone and traveled downward toward his knee.  Ultimately they all got out.

	c.  He was treated, the fragment was removed, and he was on the way back to the United States within about a week.

	d.  He was placed on medical hold at Fort Dix, NJ.  Upon discharge his medical records were sent to Philadelphia, but he had moved to Long Island and wanted to go to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) there.  He wrote asking the VA to send his records, but they never did.


3.  The applicant provides:

* his DD Form 214 (Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* DA Forms 8-27A (Medical Condition-Physical Profile Record), dated
2 June 1967 and 4 October 1968
* a medical operation narrative summary, dated 8 April 1968

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 13 October 1965 for a period of 3 years.  He completed training in military occupational specialty (MOS) 72B (communications center specialist).  He served with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.  A unit permanent change of station move took the unit to Vietnam on 10 September 1966.  On 12 January 1967, the applicant was assigned as a scout observer in MOS 11F (infantry operations and intelligence specialist) attached to a LRRP unit.

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

	a.  item 40 (Wounds) no entry (blank), and

	b.  item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no entry for the Purple Heart.

4.  On 20 April 1967, the applicant departed Vietnam en route to the United States.  He was subsequently assigned to Company B, Special Troops, U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Dix, as a teletype operator.

5.  On 4 August 1968, he was reassigned to the Medical Holding Company, Walson Army Hospital, Fort Dix as a patient.


6.  On 12 October 1968, he was honorably released from active duty at the expiration of his term of service and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Reinforcement) to complete his remaining service obligation.  He completed 3 years of total active service.  The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

7.  The applicant submitted with his application a:

	a.  DA Form 8-27A (Medical Condition-Physical Profile Record), dated 2 June 1967, that shows he was issued a permanent physical profile of 113111 for "Osteochondritis dissecans, right knee (Inflammation of both bone and cartilage, specifically, the splitting of pieces of cartilage into the joint)";

	b.  DA Form 8-27A, dated 4 October 1968, that describes the applicant's condition as "Old Shrapnel wound and osteochondritis dissecans, right knee"; and

	c.  Clinical Record Narrative Summary, dated 7 October 1968, that indicated the applicant received fragment wounds of the right knee and X-rays showed retained fragments with questionable loose bodies.  It also reported that on 9 April 1968 surgery was performed to remove pieces of cartilage from the right knee joint and repeated the same diagnosis and profile.

8.  In the applicant's Report of Medical History for his separation medical examination the applicant reported a bad right knee and the physician noted surgery in April 1968.  In the Report of Medical Examination the physician noted the post-operative right knee condition and found the applicant qualified for separation, but with a permanent profile.  Reference is made to an orthopedic consultation report; however, that report is not contained in the available records.

9.  Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.

10.  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 United States 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The criteria for award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  Although there are medical records indicating he received fragment wounds to the right knee, there is no evidence of record and he did not provide any evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action.

3.  There is also no wound entry on his DA Form 20, he is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing, and there is no evidence of any published orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

4.  In the absence of official orders awarding him the Purple Heart or documentary evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding him 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)                                         AR20110019235



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110019235



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