BOARD DATE: 14 June 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110025262
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 two awards of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ, has medical evidence of injuries he incurred from shrapnel.
3. The applicant provides a VA Form 21-4142 (Authorization and Consent to Release Information to the VA) in support of his request.
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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 28 February 1969. He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialties 12A (Pioneer) and 12B (Combat Engineer). The highest rank/grade he attained during his period of military service was specialist four (SP4)/E-4.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) contains the following entries:
* Item 31 (Foreign Service) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam from on or about 22 April 1970 to on or about 28 April 1971
* Item 40 (Wounds) is blank, indicating the absence of any documented wounds during his period of military service
4. On 12 June 1972, he was honorably discharged from the Army. The
DD Form 214 he was issued shows he was credited with 2 years, 7 months, and 17 days of net active service during this period, including 1 year and 7 days of foreign service in the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) theater of operations. His DD Form 214 does not indicate he was awarded any Purple Hearts.
5. His available record does not contain orders for the Purple Heart, nor does it contain any documentation indicating he was treated for wounds or injuries he sustained during his service in Vietnam.
6. Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
7. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), 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 any Purple Hearts pertaining to the applicant.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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:
The applicant contends he should be awarded two Purple Hearts. However, his available record, Vietnam casualty listing, and ADCARS does not provide any evidence that shows he was wounded during his period of service in the Republic
of Vietnam. Additionally, there is no evidence he received any wounds as a result of hostile action that required treatment by medical personnel, or that the resulting medical treatment was made a matter of official record. Absent evidence to the contrary, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis to grant the requested relief 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 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) AR20100015543
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110025262
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