IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  29 May 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110019671 


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 previous application for award of two Purple Hearts and a second Bronze Star Medal.  He submits a new request for correction of his record to show:

* his Vietnam Service Medal
* his qualification as an expert marksman with the M-16 rifle

2.  The applicant states, in effect, he has reviewed the Record of Proceedings (ROP) in his original case and has questions or comments.

	a.  The ROP "presumed" he participated in combat as an infantryman, thus making it "appropriate to err in his favor by awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge."  He states he had two short tours with the same infantry unit; it should have been obvious he earned the Combat Infantryman Badge.

	b.  He has a Bronze Star Medal Certificate dated 10 March 1970 and sent to his mother after he returned from Vietnam; it is signed by Major General Lloyd B. Ramsey.  This has to be the "second" Bronze Star Medal since the first one would have been dated February or March 1969 and signed by a different general, Brigadier General Wallace L. Clement.

	c.  Regarding the Purple Heart, his first wounding was on or about 11 January 1969 when his bunker was hit by mortar fire and the roof collapsed.  A piece of bamboo pierced his skin some 3 to 4 inches deep.  The unit medic pulled the bamboo out, cleaned the wound and treated it with sulphur.  His second wounding occurred on or about 28 or 29 January 1969.  A fellow Soldier, Private First Class (PFC) B**** D. G**t**n, tripped a booby trap.  G**t**n was severely wounded and the applicant and First Lieutenant (1LT) P***r K**h*l were slightly wounded by shrapnel.

	d.  The ROP deleted his Vietnam Service Medal from his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), but later shows 4 bronze service stars to be worn on it.

	e.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he qualified as an expert with the M-16 rifle and another weapon; however, these badges are not on his DD Form 214.

3.  The applicant provides:

* a 6-page handwritten letter
* undated newspaper articles of unknown origin
* a Bronze Star Medal Certificate dated 10 March 1970
* photograph of applicant standing in front of photos of bikini-clad women
* photograph of applicant's arm and legs showing shrapnel scars
* 7 letters written by applicant to his mother in January – February 1969 while an infantryman assigned to Company C, 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 11th infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal)
* 4 letters written by applicant to his mother while hospitalized

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 AR20110000274, on 26 July 2011.

2.  The applicant has provided evidence which was not previously considered by the Board and warrants consideration at this time.

3.  The applicant's records contain evidence:

* of only one award of the Bronze Star Medal
* in Item 29, DA Form 20 he twice qualified as an expert with the M-16 rifle and qualified once as a sharpshooter with the M-14 rifle



4.  In a letter to his mother, dated "Jan 28 [1969]" the applicant wrote about the wounding of PFC G**t**n.  He said:

I was on point and we moved into another village.  We had just entered and I was going back to Lt. K**h*l.  I was about 25 yds [yards] up the trail when I heard an explosion and felt something hit me in the leg.  At the same time I heard a voice screaming for help.  I went back up the trail to a clump of trees and there sat my machine gunner with no legs [emphasis added]. He never lost consciousness until the dust-off chopper took him away. He kept asking God what he could do without any legs [emphasis added].  No one would want him.  He kept wanting to know if any of the rest of us were hurt.  We were ashamed to admit to our scratches….How many lives will it take to end this damn senseless war?  This whole damn country wasn't worth one of G**t**n's legs [emphasis added].

5.  In a follow-up letter to his mother, dated "Feb 6 or 7 [1969]" the applicant expanded on the wounding of PFC G**t**n.  He said:

Yes, I guess it [Vietnam] could be a pretty place, but we don't see much outside watching the ground for tripwires, mines and booby-traps and the treelines for snipers and ambushes….No, they don't make me walk point all the time…I pretty much volunteered for it…I want to be up front and in on everything that happens….I know I failed G**t**n.  He was depending on me to find a safe way into that village….I walked past it [booby trap] on the way in  and then again going back to check with Lt. K**h*l.  He [G**t**n] stepped on it as LT and I walked back  toward it.  We both got minor wounds from small pieces [of shrapnel].  G**t**n wasn't so lucky.

6.  The Vietnam Casualty Roster lists:

* PFC B**** D. G**t**n wounded on 27 January 1969

* casualty status – hostile wounded in action, not serious-hospitalized [emphasis added]
* major attributing cause – booby trap

* 1LT P***r K**h*l wounded on 27 January 1969

* casualty status – hostile wounded in action, not serious-not hospitalized
* major attributing cause – booby trap
7.  The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) lists B**** D. G**t**n as having retired in 1969 with his military retired pay completely offset by his Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) waiver.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Concerning the applicant's Vietnam Service Medal:

* his DD Form 214 showed only the Vietnam Service Medal
* his record indicated he was entitled to 4 bronze service stars to be affixed to the medal
* the original ROP (Docket Number AR20110000274) deleted the medal without bronze service stars, then added the medal with 4 bronze service stars
* a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214) accomplished the correction on 20 October 2011

The applicant's Vietnam Service Medal with 4 bronze service stars is correctly shown on the DD Form 215, dated 20 October 2011.

2.  Concerning weapons qualification:

* the applicant's DD Form 214 shows he qualified as a sharpshooter with the M-14 rifle (SPS M-14)
* his DA Form 20 also shows he qualified as a expert with the M-16 rifle

The correct entries on his DD Form 214 for these two weapons qualifications are:

* Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-16)
* Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14)

The applicant's DD Form 214 should be corrected to reflect these two marksmanship badges.

3.  Concerning the addition of a second Bronze Star Medal to the applicant's DD Form 214:

* the Bronze Star Medal Certificate provided by the applicant is supported by General Orders Number 1687, Headquarters, Americal Division, Vietnam, dated 20 February 1970


* this Bronze Star Medal is reflected on the DD Form 215 issued on 20 October 2011
* there are no orders for a second Bronze Star Medal, nor has the applicant provided orders

Regrettably, a second award of the Bronze Star Medal cannot be approved.

4.  Concerning award of two Purple Heart medals, the applicant relates two incidents in letters to his mother written in January-February 1969.

	a.  In the first incident, he states the roof of his bunker collapsed under mortar fire, causing a piece of wood to pierce his skin.  The unit medic removed the piece of wood and treated the wound.  Unfortunately, there is no evidence – medical records, orders, entries on his DA Form 20 – to corroborate this information and support this request for a Purple Heart.

	b.  In the second incident, he relates, in two letters contemporaneous to the event, how PFC G**t**n was badly wounded by a booby trap, and how shrapnel from that explosion slightly wounded him and 1LT K**h*l.  The Vietnam Casualty Roster shows that both G**t**n and K**h*l were wounded on 27 January 1969, thus corroborating key portions of the applicant's information in his letters to his mother.

5.  The applicant's January-February 1969 recounting of the 27 January 1969 booby trap incident is accepted as fact based on the casualty roster entries for PFC G**t**n and 1LT K**h*l.  Although the casualty roster states PFC G**t**n was hospitalized as only slightly wounded, DFAS records show he was retired in 1969, but his retired pay is offset by his DVA payments.  This supports the applicant's version of events, that is PFC G**t**n was seriously wounded.

6.  The applicant's letters stated he was standing next to 1LT K**h*l when the booby trap detonated and both were slightly wounded by shrapnel.  It is unknown why only 1LT K**h*l's name appears on the casualty roster; however, that does not mean the applicant was not wounded, only that he did not follow up to ensure receipt of the Purple Heart.  Perhaps as he related in his letters to his mother, he was too ashamed to mention his slight wound when his friend lost his legs.

7.  The applicant should be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received on 27 January 1969, and the Purple Heart should be added to his DD Form 214.  Regrettably, a second award of the Purple Heart cannot be approved for the uncorroborated incident involving the bunker collapse.

8.  The applicant takes exception to the use of the word "presumed" in the original ROP as relates to his entitlement to the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Like all awards and badges, award of the Combat Infantryman Badge requires announcement in orders.  The applicant's records contains no orders awarding the Combat Infantryman Badge.  In making the correction in the original ROP, the Board had to "presume" entitlement based on the totality of the indirect evidence at hand.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this expression in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant as a combat infantryman.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF

____x___  ____x___  ____x___  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  The Board determined that the evidence presented was sufficient to warrant partial amendment of the ABCMR’s decision in Docket Number AR20110000274, dated 26 July 2011.  As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by:

* awarding him the Purple Heart for wounds received in Vietnam on 27 January 1969
* deleting the entry "SPS M-14" from his DD Form 214 (in order to make the appropriate correction)
* adding to his DD Form 214:

* Purple Heart
* Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-16)
* Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14)



2.  The Board further determined that the evidence presented is insufficient to warrant a portion of the requested relief.  As a result, the Board recommends denial of so much of the application that pertains to a second award of the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.




      _______ _   __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)                                         AR20110019671





3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110019671



7


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1