IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 23 August 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120004597
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.
2. He states he feels he should be awarded the Purple Heart because of brain/head trauma. He states he was diagnosed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with tinnitus and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from Vietnam and is receiving disability.
3. He provides a self-authored letter and a VA statement, dated 16 December 2011.
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 on 26 January 1968. He served in Vietnam from 5 January 1969 to 3 January 1970. He was honorably released from active duty on 4 January 1970.
3. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show award of the Purple Heart. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank. There is no documentation in the available record that shows he sustained wounds or was treated for wounds incurred as a result of hostile action.
5. A 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart.
6. On 16 December 2011, the VA informed the applicant that he had been approved for social security disability based on findings of service-connected PTSD, depression, and problems with a broken leg, and approved for VA service-connected PTSD disability.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify 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. Although he maintains he sustained a brain/head injury, there are no medical records available which show he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action during his service in Vietnam. In the absence of such evidence, there is an insufficient basis for award of the Purple Heart in this case.
2. In view of the foregoing, the applicant's request should be denied.
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 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) AR20120004597
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120004597
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