IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 12 June 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110024900
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 for a combat-related injury in Vietnam.
2. The applicant states that while serving with the 709th Maintenance Battalion in Dong Tam, South Vietnam his unit came under enemy mortar attack in June or July 1969. As a result, he broke his hand during the process of evading the attack. The injury should be documented in his records.
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 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 in Cleveland, OH on 6 February 1968. He completed his basic training at Fort Knox, KY and his advanced individual training as a field artillery repairman at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD before being transferred to Fort Meade, MD for his first assignment.
3. On 14 November 1968, he was transferred to Vietnam for assignment to Headquarters and A Company, 709th Maintenance Battalion, 9th Infantry Division. He was promoted to the rank/grade of specialist five (SP5)/E-5 on
1 May 1969. He departed Vietnam with his unit on 20 August 1969 for assignment to Hawaii. He remained in Hawaii until 15 September 1969 and he was transferred to Fort Carson, CO where he remained until he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) on 22 October 1969. He completed 1 year, 8 months, and 17 days of total active service. The DD Form 214 he issued at the time shows award of the:
* Army Commendation Medal with 1st oak leaf cluster
* National Defense Service Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal with one bronze service star
* Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960)
4. A review of the applicant's available records failed to show any indication that he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action.
5. Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
6. 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 the Purple Heart or any other awards pertaining to the applicant.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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 sincerity of the applicants claim that he was wounded/injured in Vietnam is not in doubt; however, there is no evidence of record and the applicant did not provide any evidence that shows he was wounded/injured as a result of enemy action and that treatment for his injuries was made a matter of record.
2. Although the applicants medical records are not contained in the available records, the entries that are routinely contained in official personnel records indicating that individuals were wounded in action are not present in his official records. The burden of proving otherwise rests with the applicant.
3. In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
___X____ ___X__ _ ____X___ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. 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.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during the Vietnam War. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
__________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) AR20110024900
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110024900
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