IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 24 April 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: 20110021832
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 (PH).
2. The applicant states he was involved in an ambush in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in October 1967 and everyone except him was killed or medically evacuated. He further states he was bleeding, under stress, did not accept treatment, and was offered a PH and refused it.
3. The applicant provides a DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) and a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record).
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 of the United States on
29 November 1966. He was trained in and awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 12A (Pioneer).
3. The applicants DA Form 20 shows he served in the RVN during the period 16 September 1967 through 30 July 1968. Item 38 (Record of Assignments) shows during his RVN tour he was assigned to Company A 35th Engineer Battalion, performing duties in MOS 12A as a pioneer. Item 40 (Wounds) contains no entries.
4. The applicants DD Form 214 shows he earned the following awards:
* National Defense Service Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal
* RVN Campaign Medal
* Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-16)
5. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
6. 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 United States Army Human Resources Command, also failed to reveal any orders for the PH pertaining to the applicant.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides the Army's awards policy. Paragraph 2-8 contains guidance on the PH. It states the PH is awarded to members wounded in action. It also states in order to award the PH there must be evidence of the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and a record of the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants request for award of the PH was carefully considered and determined to lack sufficient evidence to grant relief.
2. By regulation, in order to support award of the PH the member must have been wounded in action and there must be evidence the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound must have required medical treatment by medical personnel, and this medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
3. Item 40 of the applicant's DA Form 20 does not indicate he was wounded in action. Further, there is no entry pertaining to the applicant on the Vietnam casualty listing, the official list of RVN casualties. The applicant admitted he refused treatment. Notwithstanding his claim, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the PH has not been satisfied in this case.
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) AR20110021832
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110021832
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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