IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 8 January 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120012044
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 the Purple Heart (PH) be added to his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
2. The applicant states he received the PH for injuries sustained on
15 December 1968.
3. The applicant provides a Standard Form (SF) 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care) in support of his request.
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. On 24 October 1967, the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States. He was trained in and awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). The record shows he was promoted to sergeant (SGT)/E-5 on 9 January 1969, and that this is the highest rank/grade he attained during his military service.
3. The applicants DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) from 10 April 1968 to 9 April 1969. Item 40 (Wounds) is blank, and the PH is not included in the list of awards entered in item 41 (Awards and Decorations). His record is void of orders or other documents indicating he was awarded the PH by proper authority while serving on active duty. It is also void of any documents showing he was wounded in action in the RVN or that he was treated for a combat-related wound by medical personnel while serving in the RVN.
4. The record does contain a SF 600, dated 15 December 1968, which shows he was treated for a fragmentation wound to the right shoulder. The treatment record is void of the facts and circumstances surrounding how the wound was incurred. There is no indication it was received as a result of enemy action.
5. On 23 October 1969, the applicant was honorably released from active duty. The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time shows he completed 2 years of active military service. It also shows that during his active duty tenure he earned the following awards:
* National Defense Service Medal
* Army Commendation Medal
* Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar
* Vietnam Service Medal
* Bronze Star Medal
* Combat Infantryman Badge
* Air Medal
6. A review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
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 Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal an award of the PH pertaining to the applicant.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) contains the Armys awards policy. Paragraph 2-8 contains guidance on the PH. It states in order to support award of the PH there must be evidence that the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action; that it required treatment by military medical personnel; and a record of the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants request for award of the PH has been carefully considered. However, there is insufficient evidence to support his request. By regulation, in order to support award of the PH there must be evidence the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and a record of the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
2. The SF 600 in the record which was also proved by the applicant contains no facts and circumstances surrounding how the fragment wound he was treated for was received, and it fails to confirm this wound was received as a result of enemy action.
3. The applicant's record is void of any entries or documents that indicate this fragment wound was received as a result of enemy action. Item 40 of his DA Form 20 is blank which indicates he was not wounded in action, and there is no entry on the Vietnam casualty listing pertaining to the applicant, which is the official DA list of RVN casualties. Absent such evidence corroborating the applicant's claim that he was awarded the PH for being wounded in action, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support adding the PH to his DD Form 214 has not been satisfied.
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) AR20120012044
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120012044
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