BOARD DATE:	  15 January 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120012536 


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 (PH) to his deceased father, a former service member (FSM).

2.  The applicant states his father was discharged under honorable conditions.  His father became 100-percent disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and received service connection for scars.  He states his father never received the PH for scars he incurred during the Vietnam War.  He claims his father was never able to function in civilian life after the war.

3.  The applicant provides a 1992 news article 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 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.  On 1 August 1968, the FSM enlisted in the Regular Army and he was trained in and awarded military occupational specialty 54A (Chemical Operations).  

3.  The FSM's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) from 18 January 1969 to 21 January 1971.  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 and/or medical treatment records 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 FSM's record shows he was awarded or authorized the following awards during his active duty tenure:

* National Defense Service Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal
* RVN Campaign Medal with Device (1960)
* two overseas service bars
* Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle (M-14) Bar
* Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle (M-16) Bar

5.  On 28 April 1971, the FSM was discharged under honorable conditions in the rank/grade of private/E-1.  The reason for his discharge was "unsuitability (apathy, defective attitudes, and inability to expend effort constructively)."  His DD Form 214 shows he completed 2 years, 8 months, and 28 days of active military service.  The FSM's DD Form 214 does not include the PH in the list of earned awards.

6.  The applicant provides a 1992 news article that indicates the FSM was an Army veteran who had received shrapnel wounds to his legs in Vietnam.

7.  A review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the FSM's name as a casualty.  A 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 Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal an award of the PH pertaining to the FSM.



8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) contains the Army's awards policy.  Paragraph 2-8 contains guidance for 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 applicant's request to award the PH to the FSM has been carefully considered.  However, there is insufficient evidence to support his request.

2.  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 FSM's record is void of any entries or documents corroborating his son's claim that the FSM was wounded in action in the RVN.  Further, there are no medical treatment records on file that indicate the FSM was ever treated for a wound received as a result of enemy action while serving in the RVN.

3.  Item 40 of the FSM's DA Form 20 is blank which indicates he was not wounded in action.

4.  There is no entry on the Vietnam casualty listing pertaining to the FSM, which is the official Department of the Army list of RVN casualties.  Absent such evidence corroborating the applicant's claim that the FSM was wounded in action, the regulatory burden of proof necessary to support award of the PH has not been satisfied 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)                                         AR20120012536



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120012536



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