BOARD DATE: 15 May 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110021493
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, in effect, correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. He states while at base camp, he received a puncture wound to his hand from a cleaning rod during a mortar attack by the enemy.
3. He provides:
* A DA Form 3349 (Medical Condition Physical Profile Record), dated
2 September 1969
* A DA Form 3349, dated 3 September 1969
* His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
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. He was inducted into the Army on 27 June 1968. After completion of training, he served in military occupational specialty 13B (Field Artillery Crewman).
3. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows the following information:
* Item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam from 26 November 1968 through 15 August 1969
* Item 40 (Wounds) does not show he received any wounds
* Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) is void of the Purple Heart
4. The two DA Forms 3349 he provided show he had a healed puncture wound to his right hand. He was deemed medically qualified for full duty on
3 September 1969. These documents do not indicate the cause of his wound.
5. On 26 June 1970, he was honorably released from active duty after completing 2 years of net active service. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart.
6. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster nor does his military personnel record contain any documentation which shows the cause of his wound.
7. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, 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 awarding him the Purple Heart.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 medical treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. His request for correction of his records to show award of the Purple Heart was carefully considered; however, it is not supported by the available evidence of record.
2. The veracity of the applicants claim that he sustained a puncture wound to his hand from a cleaning rod is not in question. However, the causal relationship between his injury and hostile action has not been shown.
3. His record contains no evidence and he has not provided sufficient evidence to show he was injured as a result of hostile action. As a result, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the Purple Heart has not been satisfied in this case.
4. In the absence of such evidence, there is an insufficient basis on which to grant the 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) AR20110021493
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110021493
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