IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  21 August 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120004005 


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 (PH).  

2.  The applicant states he would like the records amended to show he earned the PH.  

3.  The applicant provides a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision and medical treatment documents 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 applicant’s 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 applicant’s failure to timely file.  In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing.



2.  On 27 March 1968, the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States and he was trained in and awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).  The record shows he was promoted to staff sergeant (SSG)/E-6 on 6 September 1969, and this is the highest rank/grade he attained during his military service.

3.  The applicant’s DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) from 24 April 1969 through 13 December 1969.  Item 40 (Wounds) is blank, and the PH is not included in the list of awards entered in item 41 (Awards and Decorations).  

4.  The applicant’s Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ) is void of orders or other documents indicating he was awarded the PH by proper authority while serving on active duty.  It is also void of any documents showing he was wounded in action in the RVN or that he was treated for a combat-related wound by medical personnel while serving in the RVN.

5.  On 24 December 1969, the applicant was honorably released from active duty.  The DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) he was issued at the time shows he completed 1 year, 8 months, and 28 days of active military service.  It also shows that during his active duty tenure he earned the following awards: 

* National Defense Service Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal 
* RVN Campaign Medal with Device (1960)
* Combat Infantryman Badge
* Parachutist Badge
* Air Medal

6.  The applicant provides a VA rating decision dated in April 2011 which denied service connection for residuals of shell fragment wounds, upper left chest based on the lack of medical evidence to show a chronic residual disability had been clinically diagnosed.  He also provides Standard Forms 600 (Chronological Records of Medical Care) that show he was treated for shrapnel wounds to the left shoulder on 2 and 3 July and 3 August 1969.  None of the medical treatment records indicate how these wounds were incurred.  

7.  A review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.



8.  A 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 an award of the PH pertaining to the applicant.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) contains the Army’s awards policy.  Paragraph 2-8 contains guidance on the PH.  It states in order to support award of the PH there must be evidence that the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action; that it required treatment by military medical personnel; and a record of the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s request for award of the PH has been carefully considered.  However, there is insufficient evidence to support his request.  By regulation, in order to support award of the PH there must be evidence 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 must have been made a matter of official record. 

2.  The applicant's record is void of any entries or documents corroborating his claim that he was wounded in action in the RVN or that he was treated for a combat-related wound by medical personnel while serving in the RVN.  Item 40 of his DA Form 20 is blank which indicates he was not wounded in action and there is no entry on the Vietnam casualty listing, the official DA list of RVN casualties, pertaining to the applicant.  

3.  Although the applicant provides medical treatment records that show he was treated for shrapnel wounds to his shoulder while in the RVN, these documents fail to provide any information pertaining to how the applicant sustained these wounds.  Absent any evidence indicating the applicant’s shrapnel wounds were received as a result of enemy action, it must be presumed they were not combat related given the absence of any recommendation for the PH from the applicant’s chain of command and proper medical authority.







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)                                         AR20120004005



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120004005



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