IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 6 December 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120009496
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. He states:
a. a mistake was made on his medical records.
b. he did not receive his Purple Heart at the time he was wounded because he was in the hospital and the medical staff did not turn in the paperwork for him.
c. he was wounded in July or August 1968 and he still has shrapnel in his chest.
d. his primary doctor at the Department of Veterans Affairs is Dr. K----- who examined him and confirmed the shrapnel is still present in his chest.
3. He provides his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) and DD Form 215 (Correction to 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 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 14 November 1967. He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (light weapons infantryman).
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
* item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam from 3 May 1968 through 16 June 1969
* item 38 (Record of Assignments) no record of the applicant being hospitalized in a patient status at any time
* item 40 (Wounds) no entries (blank)
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no entry for the Purple Heart
4. His service record does not contain orders that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
5. He was honorably released from active duty on 17 June 1969 as an overseas retiree. He completed 1 year 7 months, and 4 days of total active service. His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
6. On 12 May 2003, he was issued a DD Form 215 that corrected his
DD Form 214 to show additional awards; however, not the Purple Heart.
7. Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
8. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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's service record is void of medical documentation that shows he sustained any wounds as a result of hostile action.
2. His service record is void of evidence and he has not provided any evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds. A review of the Vietnam Casualty listing does not contain his name.
3. By regulation, in order to award the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded in action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
4. In the absence of evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief in this case.
5. The applicant and all others concerned should know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation during the Vietnam conflict. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
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) AR20120009496
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120009496
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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