IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 19 April 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110020645
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 correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he served in Vietnam and sustained a shrapnel wound on his right arm and ankle on 29 May 1966.
3. The applicant provides, in support of his request, a letter from his former platoon leader and a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
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. A DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows the applicant had honorable enlisted service in the Regular Army (RA) from 22 August 1962 through 3 September 1964.
3. He reenlisted in the RA on 4 September 1964.
4. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
a. item 38 (Record of Assignments): Company C, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry (Vietnam), from 16 April 1966 through 1 January 1967;
b. item 40 (Wounds): no entry (is blank); and
c. item 41 (Awards and Decorations): no listing of the Purple Heart.
5. 25th Infantry Division, General Orders Number 158, dated 29 May 1966, awarded the applicant the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device for heroism against a hostile force on 26 May 1966. The narrative reason (citation) in the orders does not show the applicant was wounded in action during the military operation.
6. A DD Form 214 shows the applicant was honorably released from active duty on 1 September 1967 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) to compete his Reserve obligation.
a. He completed 3 years of net active service this period.
b. Item 24 does not show the Purple Heart.
7. A review of the applicant's military personnel records failed to reveal any evidence he was authorized or awarded the Purple Heart.
8. The Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name.
9. 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. In support of his request the applicant provides the following documents.
a. A letter from Mr. Richard J. K----, dated 20 September 2011, that shows the applicant served in his platoon in Company C, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry,
25th Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1966. He describes a search and destroy mission they conducted on 29 May 1966 during which the applicant was hit with shrapnel in his right arm and ankle. Their medic administered first aid and instructed the applicant to report to the aid station for additional treatment; however, the applicant did not do so. Mr. K---- adds that he assumed the applicant received the Purple Heart for his wounds, but he has since learned that the medal was withheld because there was no documentation from the field hospital. Mr. K---- concludes by stating, "as his former Commanding Officer I am recommending (the applicant) for the Purple Heart."
b. A letter from a Veterans Service Center Manager, VA Regional Office, North Little Rock, Arkansas, dated 4 January 2006, that shows the VA rated the applicant 100% permanently and totally disabled due to a service-connected disability or disabilities.
11. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning military awards and decorations. 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 applicant's claim to the Purple Heart was carefully considered.
a. The fact that the VA has rated the applicant 100% permanently disabled due to a service-connected disability or disabilities does not offer evidence to show the applicant was wounded or injured in action that would support award of the Purple Heart.
b. The applicant provides no corroborating medical records regarding his claim.
c. The letter from the applicant's former platoon leader/commanding officer, written more than 45 years after the incident under review, provides insufficient evidence to support award of the Purple Heart.
2. There is no evidence in the applicant's military personnel records that shows he was wounded or injured in action as a result of a hostile act of such enemy.
a. There is no record of medical treatment to satisfy the strict requirement for award of the Purple Heart.
b. The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing and there is no evidence the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.
3. The sincerity of the applicant's claim is not in question. However, in order to support awarding a member the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish the wound or injury for which the award is being made was sustained in action or as a result of a hostile act of the enemy, the wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. The available evidence fails to satisfy this requirement.
4. In view of all of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to support the applicant's claim to 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) AR20110020645
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110020645
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