BOARD DATE: 9 August 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120003409
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 that he be awarded the Purple Heart based on a battle field concussion.
2. The applicant states while serving in Vietnam during combat operations, he was subjected to many explosions from incoming and outgoing rounds.
3. The applicant provides a 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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 17 April 1967 and upon completion of initial entry training he was awarded military occupational specialty 16C (Hercules Fire Control Crewmember).
3. Item 31 (Foreign Service) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 21 November 1968 to 20 November 1969. Item 40 (Wounds) is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart.
4. There is no evidence in his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) that indicates he was recommended for or awarded the Purple Heart or that he was treated for a combat-related wound. He is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
5. He was honorably released from active duty on 22 November 1969. His
DD Form 214 does not include the Purple Heart.
6. 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 the Purple Heart 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 applicant's contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart has been carefully considered.
2. His DA Form 20 contains no entries indicating he was wounded in action and there is no evidence in his OMPF that indicates he was treated for a combat-related wound. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster. The regulation requires that substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the injury was the result of hostile action and that the injury required treatment by medical personnel. In the absence of such evidence, there is no basis for 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) AR20120003409
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120003409
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