IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 7 February 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120012827
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 two awards of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states:
* his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show two awards of the Purple Heart
* he left the military before the awards were issued
* he was injured during two different firefights on 22 March 1968, once in the morning and once in the afternoon
3. The applicant provides:
* DD Form 214
* Service medical record
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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 25 August 1965 for a period of 3 years. He served as an infantryman in Vietnam from 11 February 1966 to
10 February 1967 and from 14 February 1968 to 27 June 1968. On 3 July 1968, he was honorably released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) to complete his remaining service obligation.
3. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
4. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.
5. Item 20 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.
6. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
7. 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 any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
8. He provided a health record, dated 22 March 1968, which shows he received fragment wounds to his right "lip" and left leg.
9. 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. The regulation also states a bronze oak leaf cluster is awarded to denote the second and succeeding awards of certain decorations, among which is the Purple Heart. Not more than one award will be made for more than one wound or injury received at the same instant or from the same missile, force, explosion, or agent.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends he was injured during two different firefights on
22 March 1968.
2. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards. The Purple Heart requires:
* a wound as a result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by military medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
3. Although the health record provided by the applicant shows he received fragment wounds to his right "lip" and left leg on 22 March 1968, it does not state these wounds were the result of hostile action.
4. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records. There is also no evidence in the available record that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. In the absence of corroborating evidence of record showing he was injured and treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, the health record provided by the applicant is not sufficient as a basis for awarding the Purple Heart.
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) AR20120012827
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120012827
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