IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  23 May 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110023131 


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 he was told he would receive the Purple Heart upon his medical evacuation from Vietnam.  He further states he was seriously injured  when a rocket or mortar round collapsed his bunker during an attack.  He was dug out from the debris and was paralyzed in his legs.  He was evacuated to Cam Ranh Bay, then to the Army Hospital at Camp Zama, Japan and ultimately to Martin Army Hospital in Fort Gordon, GA.

3.  The applicant provides a copy of 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 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 11 July 1967.  He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).  

3.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) contains the following information:

* Item 31 (Foreign Service) shows he arrived in the Republic of Vietnam on 19 January 1968
* Item 38 (Record of Assignments) shows he was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 502nd Infantry Regiment throughout his Vietnam service
* Item 38 further shows the applicant was a patient at U.S. Army Hospital Fort Jackson, SC from 20 December 1968 to 4 February 1969  
* Item 40 (Wounds) contains a completely lined out entry which remains readable and shows, “possible fracture R hip, 14 October 1968”  
* Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show award of the Purple Heart  

4.  On 10 July 1969, he was honorably released from active duty and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining Reserve obligation.  He completed 2 years of total active service.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of the applicant's DD Form 214 he was issued at the time does not show award of the Purple Heart.

5.  His record contains a Standard Form (SF) 88 (Report of Medical Examination) and an SF 89 (Report of Medical History), dated 29 April 1969, Martin Army Hospital, Fort Benning, GA, which were completed in conjunction with his impending separation.  The applicant noted recurrent back pain on his Report of Medical History form and in item 39 (Physician’s Summary and Elaboration of All Pertinent Data) the statement “recurrent back pain since bunker fell on him in RVN (Republic of Vietnam)” is noted.  His Report of Medical Examination does not contain any reference to back pain and the physician found the applicant was qualified for separation.  His record also contains  medical consults in which the applicant claims to have injured his back in 1968 while serving in the Republic of Vietnam when a bunker fell on his back.  His record contains SF 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care), dated 29 January 1973, which contains an entry which indicates the applicant was injured in the Republic of Vietnam in 1968, treated 3 months, hospital, quarters.  The doctor also noted the applicant stated he was partially paralyzed at the time.  However, his record does not contain any orders which award him the Purple Heart.

6.  Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not list the applicant's name as a casualty.

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 for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides the Army's awards policy.  Paragraph 2-8 contains guidance on the Purple Heart.  It states the Purple Heart is awarded to members wounded in action and states that in order 
to award the Purple Heart, there must be evidence the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by military medical personnel, and a record of the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends he is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.  However, there is insufficient evidence to support this contention.

2.  By regulation, in order to support award of the Purple Heart 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 member must have required medical treatment by medical personnel; and this medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

3.  His records reveal the applicant may have sustained a possible fracture of his right hip on 14 October 1968; however, the entry on his DA Form 20 was lined out.  This may indicate the applicant was not wounded and the entry was a clerical error.  Additional evidence shows the applicant was hospitalized; unfortunately, the available documentation does not show why he was hospitalized, when his injury occurred, whether it was the result of hostile action, or what medical treatment he received at the time.  In the absence of such evidence, there is an insufficient basis to award him 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)                                         AR20110023131



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110023131



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