IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 11 December 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120010359
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. The applicant states he sustained a bullet wound while serving at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea. He was never awarded the Purple Heart.
3. The applicant provides:
* Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) rating decision
* Contemporaneous Leave and Earnings Statements
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's records show he enlisted in the Regular Army on 28 April 1972 and he held military occupational specialty 76P (Stock Control and Accounting Specialist).
3. He served in Korea from 26 October 1972 to 15 November 1973.
4. Nothing in multiple typical source documents shows he was wounded in action or that he was awarded the Purple Heart.
* Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank (does not show a combat injury)
* Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show the Purple Heart
* His subsequent DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record) does not show him in a patient status or in a hospital
* Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam era casualty listing does not list his name as a casualty
* His medical records are not available for review with this case
* 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any Purple Heart orders pertaining to him
* His service record is void of a Western Union telegram or an official Army message notifying his next of kin of a combat injury
5. He submitted multiple LESs confirming his receipt of hostile fire pay as well as a VA rating decision, dated 18 October 2011, that shows he was awarded service-connected disability compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder and for status post gunshot wound.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. To qualify for award of the Purple Heart, 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 an 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 treatment by personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
2. In this case, the applicant's name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing, his DA Form 20 does not show he was wounded in action, and his medical records are not available for review with this case. His record is also void of any official Army correspondence or Western Union telegrams and there is no conclusive evidence in his service personnel record that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.
3. The VA records he submits do not conclusively show he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or the source of this injury and/or whether treatment was required at the time.
4. Notwithstanding his sincerity, in the absence of official documentary evidence to corroborate the events that led to his alleged injury, or additional documentation that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, and treated for those wounds, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
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) AR20120010359
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120010359
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