IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 3 April 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110019762
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 should have received the Purple Heart for a head injury he received from shrapnel at LZ (Landing Zone) Dottie in Vietnam in September 1968. He did not have proof of the incident until he contacted the medic who treated him in 1968.
3. The applicant provides a copy of a witness statement.
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 on 5 September 1967. He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialty 12B (Combat Engineer).
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
a. item 38 (Record of Assignment) he was assigned to Company B,
39th Engineer Battalion (Vietnam) from 14 February 1968 through 2 February 1969; and
b. item 41 (Awards and Decorations) the Purple Heart is not listed.
4. On 5 September 1969, he was released from active duty, in the rank of specialist four/E-4. He had completed 2 years of net service this period.
5. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not list the Purple Heart.
6. His medical records are not available for review with this case and his name is not shown in the Vietnam Casualty Listing.
7. A 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command failed to reveal orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart.
8. In support of his request he provides a statement, dated 20 August 2011, from an individual who states he was a company medic who treated the applicant for a head wound during August or September 1968. He states that during the early morning hours the LZ came under mortar and small arms attack. He recalls the applicant appeared at the aid station suffering from a head wound. Examination showed it to be a shrapnel injury to the top center rear of the head. He treated the applicant and he wanted to evacuate him. But the applicant refused evacuation and returned to his squad. Examination of the wound over the next few days showed no signs of infection. He believes the lack of a record of the incident stems from the fact that the applicant refused evacuation and was treated entirely at company level.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that 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 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. ADCARS does not contain orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant and the Vietnam Casualty Listing does not contain the applicant's name.
2. Notwithstanding his sincerity or that of the witness in the absence of official evidence showing he was treated for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy and that treatment was made a matter of official record, there is regrettably an insufficient basis upon which to award the Purple Heart.
3. In view of the above, the applicant's request should be denied.
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 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) AR20110012948
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110019762
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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