BOARD DATE:	  23 October 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120007125 


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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show the:

* Purple Heart
* Combat Infantryman Badge

2.  The applicant states he was hit by enemy fire near Landing Zone Diane in Vietnam.  He was transported to Camp Zama, Japan for treatment and rehabilitation.  His DD Form 214 does not show the requested awards.

3.  The applicant did not provide any evidence. 

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.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 1 August 1968 for a period of
3 years.  He completed training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11E (Armor Crewman).

3.  His record shows he arrived in Vietnam on 29 July 1969.  He was assigned to Troop C, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, 4th Infantry Division as a tank commander on 8 August 1969.

4.  His service record contains a Standard Form (SF) 502 (Clinical Record - Narrative Summary), dated 20 December 1969, that shows he was admitted to the hospital in Vietnam on 14 December 1969 and he was transferred to the 249th General Hospital, Japan on 20 December 1969 with a diagnosis of cerebral concussion with frontal skull fracture and forehead laceration.  This documents shows:

	a.  Prior to his admission, he was riding on his tank and he was either struck in the forehead by a branch or a branch swung the 50-caliber machine gun striking him in the forehead.

	b.  He remembered traveling in column but not the actual trauma as he was rendered unconscious immediately for approximately 30 minutes and remembered little until the next day when he awoke in the hospital.

	c.  He had a laceration to his head and with the exception of an occasional mild generalized headache, he had been essentially without complaint until the time of his admission.  His final diagnosis after treatment was that of carniocerebral trauma with light supraorbital skull fracture and cerebral concussion.  He was discharged from the hospital on 8 January 1970 with a
6-week temporary physical profile.

5.  He was honorably released from active duty on 30 July 1971 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining Reserve obligation.  His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart or the Combat Infantryman Badge.

6.  There is nothing in several typical sources that show he was wounded in action or awarded the Purple Heart:

* Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not reflect a combat injury
* Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of this form does not list the Purple Heart
* His available medical records do not reflect a combat injury or treatment for such injury
* His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing
* There are no general orders in his record that shows he was awarded the Purple Heart
* A review of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant
* His records do not contain a notification, such as a Western Union Telegram, notifying his next of kin of a combat injury

7.  There is nothing in three typical sources that shows he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge:

* His records do not contain special orders awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge
* Item 38 (Record of Assignment) of his DA Form 20 shows he performed the duties of a tank commander in Vietnam and was assigned to a cavalry squadron
* There is no evidence that shows he was personally present and served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards.  It states:

	a.  The Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or 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.

	b.  The Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  Additionally, Appendix V of U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 states that during the Vietnam era the Combat Infantryman Badge was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11D, 11F, 11G, or 11H.

9.  U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Awards and Decorations) governed award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to Army forces operating in South Vietnam.  This regulation stated that criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge identified the man who trained, lived, and fought as an infantryman and that the Combat Infantryman Badge was the unique award established to recognize the infantryman and only the infantryman for his service.  Further, "the Combat Infantryman Badge is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day to day combat."  This regulation also stated the Combat Infantryman Badge was authorized for award to infantry officers, to enlisted personnel, and to warrant officers who had an infantry specialty/military occupational specialty and required that they must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  With respect to the Purple Heart:

	a.  The criteria for the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

	b.  The applicant's service record and ADCARS is void of any orders that show he was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded or injured as a result of combat.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing.  His available service medical records do not reflect a combat injury.

	c.  Notwithstanding the applicant's contention and sincerity, in the absence of documentation that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action and treated for those wounds, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.

2.  With respect to the Combat Infantryman Badge:

	a.  There are basically three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The Soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, he must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and he must actively participate in such ground combat.  

	b.  The applicant's service in Vietnam in not in question.  However, there is no evidence he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.  Additionally, there is no evidence in the available records and he did not submit substantiating evidence that shows he was assigned to an infantry unit, or that he was personally present and under hostile fire while serving in his assigned infantry duty in an infantry unit that was actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy.  Therefore, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis upon which to award him the Combat Infantryman Badge 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.

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120007125



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120007125



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