IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 13 December 2012
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120010955
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, that he be awarded the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he was wounded in action in Vietnam in March 1968.
3. The applicant provides no additional documents with his application.
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 on 13 June 1966. He completed his basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and his advanced individual training as a memorial activities specialist at Fort Lee, Virginia. He was transferred to Germany on 7 November 1966. He departed Germany on 19 February 1967 for assignment to Vietnam.
3. He arrived in Vietnam on 14 April 1967 and was assigned to Company A, 9th Supply and Transportation Battalion, 9th Infantry Division. He was advanced to the pay grade of E-4 on 26 August 1967 and he departed Vietnam on 13 April 1968 and was transferred to Fort Dix, New jersey where he was honorably released from active duty on 15 April 1968 as an overseas returnee. He had served 1 year, 10 months and 3 days of active service and his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Vietnam Campaign Medal.
4. A review of his official records failed to show any evidence of the applicant being wounded or being treated for any wounds while in Vietnam. Additionally, his separation physical and medical examination makes no reference to any wounds and his name is not contained on the Vietnam Casualty Listing.
5. 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 Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. While the sincerity of the applicants claim that he should have been awarded the Purple Heart is not in doubt, there simply is no evidence in the available records to show that he was treated for wounds or injuries that were the result of enemy action. Therefore, in the absence of such evidence there is no basis to award him the Purple Heart at this time.
2. The applicant has failed to show through the evidence of record and evidence submitted with his application that he meets the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
____X____ __X______ ____X____ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. 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.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during the Vietnam War. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
_______ _ _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) AR20120010955
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120010955
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