BOARD DATE: 1 May 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110022705
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 and correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show this award.
2. The applicant states his unit was under fire in Vietnam on 16 May 1965 and he was injured in the line of duty during combat.
3. The applicant provides his DD Form 214.
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's records show he enlisted in the Regular Army on 31 July 1964 and he held military occupational specialty 675.20 (Single-Rotor Helicopter Repairman). He served in Vietnam from 20 March to 8 July 1965 while assigned to the 118th Aviation Company, 145th Aviation Battalion.
3. He was discharged from active duty on 10 July 1965. He completed 11 months and 10 days of total active service.
4. His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
5. Section 8 (Wounds Received Through Enemy Action) of his DA Form 24 (Service Record) contains no entries and section 8 (Medal, Decorations, and Citations) does not show the Purple Heart.
6. There are no orders in his records showing award of the Purple Heart.
7. There is no medical evidence in his available record that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action while in an active duty status.
8. A review of The Adjutant General's Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing failed to show his name as a casualty.
9. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, 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 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 criteria for the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify that a Soldier received a wound/injury as the result of hostile action, the wound/injury must have required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
2. There is no evidence in the applicants records and he has not provided any evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, that he was treated for such wounds by medical personnel, and that his treatment was made a matter of official record. In the absence of documentary evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart 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) AR20110022705
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110022705
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