IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 9 May 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120019737
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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show the award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he was wounded in 1969 while serving in the delta of Vietnam near Daun Tam. He took shrapnel in his left ankle while running mine detection devices. He was treated on the base, his wound was stitched.
3. The applicant provides no additional evidence.
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. The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 10 December 1968. He held military occupational specialty 12B (combat engineer).
3. His records contain a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) that shows in:
* item 38 (Record of Assignments) he served in Vietnam from 27 May to 24 August 1969 while assigned to Company B, 15th Engineer Battalion, 9th Infantry Brigade
* item 40 (Wounds) no entry
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no Purple Heart
4. His complete medical records were not available for review.
5. He was honorably released from active duty on 14 January 1971. He completed 1 year, 11 months, and 16 days of total active service.
6. A review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam Casualty Listing does not show his 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant requests correction of his DD Form 214 to show the award of the Purple Heart.
2. The criteria for award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
3. His records are void of evidence and he did not provide any evidence to show he was injured as a result of enemy action, his wounds were treated by medical personnel, and the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
4. Additionally, his name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing and there are no orders awarding him the Purple Heart in ADCARS. His DA Form 20 does not show he sustained any combat wounds and his available medical records do not document a combat wound or injury.
5. In the absence of documentary evidence to corroborate his claim of the events that led to his injury or additional documentation that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the requested relief.
6. In view of the above, his request should be denied.
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) AR20120019737
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120019737
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