IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  30 May 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120019543 


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 a second award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states award of the Purple Heart for friendly fire was not authorized until 1 March 2012.  Had it been authorized in 1966, he would have been awarded an oak leaf cluster for wear on his already-awarded Purple Heart.  Both he and his radio operator were treated by a medic who was also tending to an officer who had been wounded in the attack.  His (the applicant's) head wounds were not serious, they just bled a lot.  His radio operator was medically evacuated to remove shrapnel from his leg.

3.  The applicant provides a newspaper article and three photographs.

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.  Having had prior enlisted service, the applicant's records show he was appointed as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve on 12 March 1957 with a concurrent call to active duty.  He served in Vietnam from 3 January to 20 December 1966 while assigned to the 5th Special Forces (SF) Group. 

3.  General Orders Number 7066, dated 27 December 1966, issued by the United States Army Vietnam, awarded him the Purple Heart for wounds received in connection with military operations against a hostile force on 4 June 1966.

4.  He was honorably retired on 23 November 1970 in the rank of major by reason of permanent disability.  

5.  The DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) he was issued for this period of service shows one award of the Purple Heart.

6.  His records are void of orders awarding him the Purple Heart (2nd Award).

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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart (2nd Award) pertaining to the applicant.

8.  The applicant provides a newspaper article, dated 13 November 1966, from the Stars and Strips Newspaper, wherein it stated "South Vietnamese rangers on Saturday assaulted a U.S. SF building at Hon Quan, 70 miles north of Saigon and two Americans were wounded, reliable sources said.  Tempers flared, informants said, after trouble had been building up between allied military men in the area over several days.  These sources said the rangers used two armored personnel carriers to knock down part of a wall at the recreation club used by members of a green beret team stationed at Hon Quan, then fired into the building with automatic weapons.  No other details were available."

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded:

	a.  For a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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.

	b.  To individuals wounded or killed as a result of "friendly fire" in the "heat of battle" as long as the "friendly" projectile or agent was released with the full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment (effective 1996).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The criteria for the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify that a Soldier received a wound/injury as the result of hostile action, the wound/injury required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  It is also awarded to individuals wounded or killed as a result of "friendly fire" in the "heat of battle" as long as the "friendly" projectile or agent was released with the full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment.

2.  Notwithstanding the applicant's sincerity, there is no evidence and he has not provided any evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of "friendly fire" in the "heat of battle" and treated for those wounds.  The newspaper article he provided shows an incident occurred, apparently in November 1966, when disgruntled allied forces assaulted a building in Vietnam and wounded two Americans.  Even if the applicant had been wounded in this attack, it does not fit the criteria for the Purple Heart as the "friendly fire" did not occur in the heat of battle and was not intended to damage or destroy enemy troops or equipment.

3.  In view of the foregoing, he is not entitled to the requested relief.

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)                                         AR20120019543





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120019543



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