BOARD DATE: 6 September 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120004604
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. The applicant states:
* He was not awarded the Purple Heart when he was injured by a grenade in combat in March/April 1970 in Vietnam
* He injured both knees at the time of the explosion
* He was sent to the rear after the attack and underwent therapy in Vietnam
* This can be verified in his service treatment records
* He is receiving Department of Veterans Affairs compensation for the injuries he sustained in the grenade attack
3. The applicant provides his 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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on
17 September 1968. He served as an infantryman in Vietnam from
11 September 1969 to 9 September 1970. On 10 September 1970, he was honorably released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining service obligation.
3. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
4. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.
5. Item 20 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.
6. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
7. A DA Form 8-274 (Medical Condition Physical Profile Record), dated
27 March 1970, shows he was found medically qualified for limited duty and he was issued a permanent profile "3" for lower extremities due to lateral meniscus scars and dislocation of patella.
8. 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 United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for award of the Purple Heart.
9. His service medical records are not available.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 requests award of the Purple Heart.
2. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards. The Purple Heart requires:
* a wound the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by military medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
3. There is no evidence in the available record that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart 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.
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