BOARD DATE: 18 October 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120008143
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, in effect, award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he received a shrapnel wound to his right arm while serving with Battery B, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, on Landing Zone (LZ) Brillo Pad in Vietnam. The medical record of his injury was lost or destroyed during enemy contact and his injury was not entered on his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
3. The applicant provides:
* excerpt from Internet website, "1968 Diary," 1st Battalion (Red Warriors), 12th Infantry Regiment, historical timeline of action during 1968
* excerpt from book article, "LZ Brillo Pad," pages 209-212
* DD Form 214
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 was inducted into the Army of the United States on 3 January 1968 and he held military occupational specialty 94B (Cook).
3. He served in Vietnam from 21 May 1968 to 15 May 1969 and was assigned to Battery B, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
4. He was honorably released from active duty on 14 December 1969 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve. His DD Form 214 does not list the Purple Heart.
5. There is nothing in the typical source documents to confirm he was wounded in action and/or treated for a combat injury/wound:
* item 38 (Record of Assignment) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show he was in a patient status
* item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 does not reflect a combat wound or injury
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
* his records do not contain general orders awarding him the Purple Heart
* his name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty roster
* 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 and maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch failed to reveal Purple Heart orders for him
* his official records do not contain a Department of the Army message or a Western Union telegram regarding any injury or wound
* there are no medical records which note any combat injuries or wounds
6. He submitted excerpts from a diary and a book that outline actions which took place and the casualties which occurred at LZ Brillo Pad. He was not noted to have been among the casualties.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against and 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The criteria for award of 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 medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
2. The applicant's service record is void of any evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action.
3. In the absence of additional documentation that conclusively 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.
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) AR20120008143
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120008143
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