BOARD DATE:	  20 November 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120007785 


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 reconsideration of an earlier request for the Purple Heart and Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) through a Member of Congress.

2.  The applicant states:

	a.  he was hit in his right hand by a piece of shrapnel during a firefight in Vietnam on 5 April 1968.  He was sent to a forward medical station where the shrapnel was removed from his hand and he was subsequently sent to a medical facility for further treatment.  When his hand had healed he returned to his company in the field.  He never received the Purple Heart for his wound.

	b.  he should have received the CIB since he had been under enemy fire in Vietnam.

3.  The applicant provides:

* Correspondence from a Member of Congress
* Letter, dated 27 February 2012, from the Awards and Decorations Branch, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, KY
* DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* Standard Form (SF) 89 (Report of Medical History)
* Radiographic report, dated 11 April 1968
* Health record, dated April 1968
* Letter, dated 26 September 2011, from a fellow Soldier at the time in question with attachments

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20110006123, on 22 September 2011.

2.  The applicant provides an SF 89, dated 22 April 1968, which shows he received a fragment wound to the third right finger on 5 April 1968 in Vietnam.

3.  He submits an Army buddy statement, dated 26 September 2011, from a fellow Soldier at the time in question who attests:

* He served with the applicant in Vietnam from February 1968 to February 1969
* They were in the same company and platoon for the entire year
* He (fellow Soldier) received the CIB
* Their company performed numerous combat assaults in Vietnam
* The applicant spent well over 300 days in the field/jungle during their tour
* The applicant earned the CIB within the first 4 days of being in country
* Following the 5 April 1968 battle, the applicant showed him his hand where he had received shrapnel
* He did not receive treatment for it immediately
* His hand became infected and he was subsequently transported for treatment
* The applicant returned to the unit
* The omission of awarding the CIB to the applicant is an injustice to his service and participation in the many battles and firefights during his tour in Vietnam 

4.  The documentation provided by the applicant is new evidence that will be considered by the Board.   

5.  The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 7 September 1967.  He completed his training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11C (infantry indirect fire crewman) and later MOS 11B (light weapons infantryman).  He served in MOS 11C assigned to the 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam from 20 February 1968 to 4 February 1969.  On 5 September 1969, he was honorably released from active duty and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve.  
6.  His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart or the CIB as authorized awards.

7.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart or CIB in the available records.

8.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart or CIB.

9.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.

10.  Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that 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.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 states the CIB 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.  

13.  U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards), in effect at the time, governed award of the CIB to Army forces operating in South Vietnam.  This regulation stated the criteria for award of the CIB identified the man who trained, lived, and fought as an infantryman and the CIB was the unique award established to recognize the infantryman and only the infantryman for his service.  Further, "the CIB is not an award for being shot at or for undergoing the hazards of day-to-day combat."  This regulation also stated the CIB was authorized for award to officers, enlisted personnel, and warrant officers who held an infantry MOS 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.  The applicant contends he was hit in his right hand by a piece of shrapnel during a firefight in Vietnam on 5 April 1968.  

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.  Although the SF 89 provided by the applicant shows he received a fragment wound to his right hand on 5 April 1968, it does not state this wound was the result of hostile action.  

4.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.  There is also no evidence in the available record that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.  In the absence of corroborating evidence of record showing he was injured and treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, the Army buddy statement and documentation provided by the applicant are not sufficient as a basis for awarding the Purple Heart.

5.  He contends he should have received the CIB since he had been under enemy fire in Vietnam.  Evidence shows he held and served in an infantry MOS while assigned to an infantry company in Vietnam.  However, there is no evidence of record that shows he served in active ground combat.  Therefore, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the CIB.

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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20110006123, dated 22 September 2011.




      _______ _  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)                                         AR20120007785





3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120007785



2


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1