BOARD DATE: 22 January 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120013248
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).
2. The applicant states he should be awarded the PH for injuries he sustained in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) which resulted in him spending several months in the hospital.
3. The applicant provides the documents identified in item 9 (In support of this application, I submit as evidence the following attached documents) 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 16 September 1966, the applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States. He was trained in and awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 26L (Microwave Radio Repairman) and specialist five (SP5)/E-5 is the highest rank he attained and held on active duty.
3. The applicants DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in the RVN from 26 June to 31 December 1967. 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.
4. The record contains a Standard Form 502 (Clinical Record-Narrative Summary) that indicates the applicant was injured in a truck accident in the RVN on 10 December 1967. This document does not indicate the accident was the result of or caused by enemy action.
5. On 13 September 1968, the applicant was honorably released from active duty, in the rank of SP5/E-5 after completing 1 year, 11 months, and 28 days of active military service. The DD Form 214 he was issued shows that during his active duty tenure he earned the following awards:
* National Defense Service Medal
* Vietnam Service Medal
* Army Good Conduct Medal (1st Award)
* Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge (Rifle M-14) Bar
6. The applicant provides medical documents showing he was hospitalized and treated for injuries received in a truck accident in the RVN on 10 December 1967. None of these documents indicate the accident was the result of or caused by enemy action.
7. A review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
8. 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.
9. 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 applicant's record is void of any entries or documents indicating he was ever wounded or injured as a result of enemy action. Item 40 of his DA Form 20 is blank which indicates he was not wounded in action.
3. Further, there is no entry on the Vietnam casualty listing, the official DA list of RVN casualties, pertaining to the applicant. Absent any evidence corroborating the applicant's claim or documentary evidence that shows the truck accident that resulted in the applicant's injuries was the result of or caused by enemy 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 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) AR20120013248
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120013248
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