DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120010310
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 he was hit in the mouth by flying debris during a mortar attack. It broke two caps and injured the inside of his mouth and upper lip.
3. He provides his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), Standard Form 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Form 07-3101 (Request for Information), and VA Form 21-564d (Dental Rating Sheet).
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 8 February 1967.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
* Item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam from 10 August 1967 to 9 August 1968
* item 38 (Record of Assignments) no record of the applicant being hospitalized in a patient status at any time
* item 40 (Wounds) no entries
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no award of the Purple Heart
4. His service record does not contain orders that show he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Vietnam casualty roster does not list his name.
5. He was honorably released from active duty on 7 February 1969. His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
6. He provided the following documents:
a. A Standard Form 600 shows his teeth in areas 7 and 10 were evaluated and treated at a dental clinic in Vietnam in April 1968. There is no indication of how he sustained damage to his teeth.
b. A VA Form 07-3101 shows he requested medical and dental records from the VA. He indicated he cracked his front teeth in May 1968 and was treated at the Army Dental Clinic in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.
c. A VA Form 21-564d shows the VA evaluated and rated his teeth for trauma on 24 June 1969. The VA determined there was no trauma to his teeth, but trauma to his bridge only.
7. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 applicant's medical document indicates he was treated at a Dental Clinic in Vietnam for damage to his teeth. However, there is no indication of how he sustained damage to his teeth.
2. Although he contends he was hit in the mouth by flying debris during a mortar attack, his service record is void of evidence which indicates he sustained this injury as the result of hostile action. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster. A review of ADCARS failed to reveal any orders for award of the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
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. In the absence of evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is an insufficient basis upon which to award the Purple Heart 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 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) AR20120010310
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120010310
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