IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 23 May 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110023594
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 should receive the Purple Heart for a gunshot wound he received to his upper shoulder blade while in Vietnam in April/May 1967
* He was sent to a tent medical unit for 2-3 days and then he was sent back into the jungle
* He was told he would receive the Purple Heart prior to discharge but he was never awarded the medal
3. The applicant provides a letter from his spouse who was his girlfriend at the time.
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
18 November 1965. He served as a field artillery basic crewman in Vietnam from
23 July 1966 to 17 August 1967. On 21 August 1967, he was released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining service obligation.
3. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
4. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.
5. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show the Purple Heart and item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 is blank.
6. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
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. He provides a letter from his wife who states:
* They have been married 43 years
* In the spring of 1967 the applicant was her boyfriend
* She received a letter from him telling her he got shot in the back while cleaning his gun
* At the time he wrote the letter he was in a field hospital recuperating
* He still has a scar from the wound
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 treatment by military personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart for a gunshot wound he received to his upper shoulder blade while in Vietnam in April/May 1967.
2. He provided a letter from his wife (who was his girlfriend at the time in question) stating she received a letter from him in the spring of 1967 telling her he got shot in the back while cleaning his gun.
3. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards. The Purple Heart requires:
* that the wound was the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by military medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
* official orders awarding the decoration
4. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records. There is no evidence of record and he provided no evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to support award of 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) AR20110023594
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110023594
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