BOARD DATE:	  5 June 2012 

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20110023385 


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 reconsideration of his previous request for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states his is providing new evidence that was not previously available that shows he was wounded in action and evacuated to Camp Zama, Japan, for treatment.  He now has an email from a member of his unit in Vietnam, medical records, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) records.  He believes he is entitled to a Purple Heart for a concussion caused by a bullet from an enemy soldier in Vietnam, which entered the left side of his helmet and exited the rear of his helmet.  This caused him to lose consciousness for a brief period of time and caused permanent hearing loss and tinnitus.

3.  The applicant provides:

* DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214)
* Email statement, dated 22 November 2011
* U.S. Army Human Resources Command letter, dated 19 August 2011
* VA letter, dated 27 July 2011
* National Personnel Records Center letter, dated 16 March 2011
* VA Rating Decision, dated 22 December 2003
* DA Form 1577 (Authorization for Issuance of Awards), dated 10 August 2001
* Two Army Review Boards Agency (ARBA) letters, dated 10 August and 20 June 2001
* Two VA letters, dated 24 November 1967 and 3 June 1971
* Standard Form 89 (Report of Medical History), dated 31 July 1967
* Standard Form 502 (Clinical Record - Narrative Summary)
* Standard Form 88 (Report of Medical Examination), dated 18 August 1964

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR2001054295, on 7 June 2001.

2.  As new evidence, the applicant provides:

	a.  Standard Form 502, dated 31 August 1966, wherein it shows he was evacuated from Vietnam and admitted to the U.S. Army Hospital, Camp Zama, Japan, on 23 June 1966 for treatment of presumed malaria.  The treating physician stated the applicant arrived in Vietnam on 8 May 1966 and had no illness prior to the present one.  On 18 June 1966, he developed chills, fever, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, headache, and myalgia and was subsequently medically evacuated to Camp Zama.  During the first week of hospitalization he continued to have some malaise, fatigue, and anorexia.  When medication was discontinued, he developed a fever and the generalized symptoms increased.  At that time, he also developed dizziness, and deafness which was partial and not documented.  The treating physician stated the applicant's malaria was not documented and it seemed likely he actually had scrub typhus.  He was discharged from the hospital and subsequently returned to Vietnam.

	b.  One page of a VA Rating Decision, dated 22 December 2003, wherein it stated his evaluation for post-traumatic stress disorder with anxiety disorder which was 30 percent disabling, and tinnitus which was 10 percent disabling, were continued.

	c.  An email from a former unit member, dated 22 November 2011, wherein he stated he "kind of remembered what the applicant looked like back then" and thought the applicant took a round through his helmet on 6 June 1966 when they took friendly fire during a firefight in Vietnam.  He also stated it was hard to pin down which day he remembered seeing the applicant with a finger projecting out through his helmet as they were in combat so often events ran together.

3.  The applicant's records show he enlisted in the Regular Army on 18 August 1964 and he held military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).  He served in Vietnam on 8 May 1966 to 7 May 1967 while assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment.

4.  He was medically evacuated to Camp Zama, Japan on or about 23 June 1966 for treatment of suspected malaria.  His record shows the treating physician determined his malaria was not documented and it seemed likely he actually had scrub typhus.  He was returned to Vietnam on or about 22 August 1966. 

5.  He was honorably released from active duty on 17 August 1967 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve.  He completed 3 years of creditable active service.

6.  Neither his DD Form 214 nor his DD Form 215, dated 10 August 2001, shows the Purple Heart.  There are no orders in his records showing award of the Purple Heart.

7.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) contains no entries and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart.

8.  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.

9.  A review of The Adjutant General's Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing failed to show his name as a casualty.

10.  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. 

11.  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 a 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.  The applicant himself provided evidence that shows:

	a.  He was medically evacuated to Camp Zama, Japan, and hospitalized for treatment of suspected malaria and not due to wounds or injuries received in action.  In addition, the treating physician stated the applicant arrived in Vietnam on 8 May 1966, had no illness prior to the one he was hospitalized for, and experienced partial deafness that was not documented after medication was discontinued.  

	b.  A fellow unit member stated he thought he remembered what the applicant looked liked and that the applicant "took a round through his helmet."  He stated he remembered the applicant having a helmet with his finger poked through a hole in the helmet.  He did not state that he witnessed the applicant being shot or that he had been wounded in action.  

3.  There is no evidence in the applicant’s 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 evidence that conclusively shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action, 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR2001054295, dated 7 June 2001.



      _______ _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)                                         AR20110023385





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20110023385



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