BOARD DATE: 26 April 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110023939
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 the Purple Heart (PH) be added to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
2. The applicant states, in effect, the PH, his injury, and his being in the hospital are not listed on his DD Form 214. He states, in effect, he was injured while exiting a helicopter at a drop zone called Hot Landing Zone.
3. The applicant did not provide any additional evidence.
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 5 August 1965. His records show he completed basic combat and advanced individual training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). The highest rank/grade he attained while serving on active duty was Private First Class/E3.
3. The applicant served in Vietnam with Company C, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry from 21 July 1966 through 24 December 1966.
4. The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 4 August 1967. His DD Form 214 does not show award of the PH.
5. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show a combat wound or injury.
6. The applicants name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty roster. His official military personnel file is void of any orders or documents that indicated he was ever awarded the PH by proper authority while serving on active duty.
7. The applicants Standard Form 89 (Report of Medical History) dated 6 June 1967 and Item 38 (Record of Assignments) on his DA Form 20 show he was a patient from 26 December 1966 through 24 March 1967 in the U.S. Naval Hospital, Beaufort, South Carolina and was treated for malaria.
8. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by 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 any orders for the PH pertaining to the applicant.
9. There is no evidence in the available records showing he sustained any injuries as a result of hostile action or that he was treated for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the PH 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 applicants request to add the PH to his DD Form 214 was carefully considered and determined to lack sufficient evidence to grant relief.
2. The criteria for an award of the PH requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify that the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by the medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
3. In the absence of official documentary evidence that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to award him the PH and/or add it to his DD Form 214.
4. This action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
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) AR20110023939
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110023939
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