BOARD DATE: 18 April 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110020521
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 that within 3 months of arriving in Vietnam he was injured by shrapnel during a nighttime mortar/rocket attack on his camp. He was outside the bunker when the attack occurred. As he ran to the bunker he was hit in the left arm by incoming shrapnel. The injury is noted on his Standard Form (SF) 88 (Report of Medical Examination) during his separation physical on 20 March 1969.
3. The applicant provides copies of his:
* SF 88, dated 20 March 1969
* SF 89 (Report of Medical History), dated 20 March 1969
* DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* Letter orders showing his discharge from the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR)
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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 14 June 1967. He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11E (Armor Crewman).
3. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
a. item 38 (Record of Assignments) he served in Vietnam from 27 August 1968 to 16 March 1969,
b. item 40 (Wounds) no entry (blank); and
c. item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no listing of the Purple Heart.
4. Item 39 (Physician's Summary and Elaboration of All Pertinent Data) of the SF 89 that was prepared during his separation physical shows the entry "Shrapnel wound of L[eft] forearm," but there is no annotation to indicate the cause of the injury, when it occurred, or that he received any treatment.
5. The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 20 March 1969 in the rank/grade of sergeant (SGT)/E-5. He completed 1 year, 9 months, and
7 days of total active service.
6. The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
7. The applicant's medical records are not available for review. There is no evidence of record and he did not provide any evidence that shows he was injured as a result of hostile action, that he was treated for his wounds, or that his injury was made a matter of official record.
8. Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name.
9. 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 any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
10. 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 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. There is no official record showing the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action, that he was treated for such wound, or that it was made a matter of official record. Although his separation physical examination document notes shrapnel wound to his left forearm, there is no corroborating evidence that shows he met the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.
3. In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's 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) AR20110020521
2
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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