IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 31 January 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120005920
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 got a fragment in his eye when his armored personnel carrier (APC) struck an enemy mine made from a 155mm artillery projectile. Although he twice went to the field hospital about his eye, the fragment was not detected until the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dilated his eye after he was discharged.
3. The applicant provides copies of:
* the orders awarding him the Bronze Star Medal
* a 14 December 1974 VA letter
* a color photograph apparently of an American Soldier in front of an APC
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 10 January 1969, completed training as an armored infantry reconnaissance specialist, and was assigned to Alaska. He was later deployed to Vietnam and arrived there in September 1970.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
a. item 38 (Record of Assignments) assignments in the 25th Infantry Division and the 720th Military Police Battalion between 13 September 1970 and 29 August 1971 when he returned to the United States for separation and transfer to the U.S. Army Reserve as a specialist four (pay grade E-4);
b. item 41 (Awards and Decorations) the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960), two Overseas Service Bars, Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar; and
c. item 40 (Wounds) is blank.
4. On 3 September 1971, the applicant was separated with an honorable characterization of service. His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not list the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
5. His examining doctor for his separation physical examination noted less than normal peripheral vision and recommended the applicant seek follow-up with the VA.
6. The 14 December 1972 letter from the VA stated that he was granted service connection but rated at less than 10 percent for, "Corneal foreign body, right eye, well tolerated (claimed as eye condition)."
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 states he got a fragment in his eye when his APC struck an enemy mine. Although he twice went to the field hospital about his eye, the fragment was not detected until the VA dilated his eve after he was discharged.
2. Although the physician conducting the applicant's separation physical observed less than normal peripheral vision, there is nothing to connect that condition to the foreign body the VA found in the applicant's cornea. There is also no evidence to connect the foreign body in his eye to the combat incident the applicant described.
3. Award of the Purple Heart is reserved for wounds that are serious enough to require treatment. The applicant was examined but there is insufficient evidence to show he was ever treated.
4. There is no basis for granting the applicant's request.
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) AR20120005920
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120005920
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