BOARD DATE: 23 August 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120003467
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 be added to his DD Form 214
(Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
2. The applicant states during the course of clearing a landing zone he was wounded by shrapnel in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN).
3. The applicant provides a copy of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision.
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 September 1965 and was trained in and awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11E (Armor Crewman). He was released from active duty on 27 September 1968.
3. The applicant's DD Form 214 shows:
* National Defense Service Medal (NDSM)
* Vietnam Service Medal (VSM)
* Vietnam Campaign Medal (VCM)
* Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB)
* Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14)
* Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Pistol Bar (.45)
* Two Overseas Service Bars
4. The applicants Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) is void of orders showing he was awarded the PH or documents indicating he was wounded in action in the RVN. It is also void of medical treatment records indicating he was ever treated for a combat-related wound. Item 40 (Wounds) of the applicants DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank, and the PH is not included in the list of earned awards in item 41 (Awards and Decorations).
5. Review of the Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's casualty listing fails to show the applicant's name as a casualty. 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 PH pertaining to the applicant.
6. The applicant provides a detailed rating decision dated 8 July 2011 from the VA which acknowledges his service treatment records verify foreign service in the RVN and that he was treated by the 25th Medical Battalion and later transferred to the 18th Surgical Hospital at Camp Holloway, RVN.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides the Army's awards policy. It states the PH is awarded to members wounded in action. It also states in order to award the PH there must be evidence of the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and a record of the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's request to be awarded the PH based on wounds received while on active duty has been carefully considered. However, there is insufficient evidence to support this claim.
2. While the applicant provides a VA rating decision that references medical treatment in the RVN, it does not indicate the treatment was for wounds as a result of hostile action.
3. By regulation, in order to support award of the PH the member must have been wounded in action and there must be evidence the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound must have required medical treatment by medical personnel, and this medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
4. Item 40 of the applicants DA Form 20 is blank. Further, there are no documents in the applicant's OMPF that indicate he was treated for a combat-related wound by medical personnel during his tour of duty in the RVN.
5. Absent any evidence confirming the applicant was wounded in action while serving in the RVN, it would not be appropriate to award the applicant the PH.
6. The applicant and all others concerned should know this action related to award of the PH in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him 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) AR20120003467
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120003467
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