IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  28 May 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120020500 


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 add his award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states:

* he received the Purple Heart while he was in Vietnam
* the clerk did not annotate his record to show the Purple Heart
* he is submitting medical evidence that shows his wounds and that he was presented the Purple Heart

3.  The applicant provides:

* two self-authored letters to his family
* a Standard Form (SF) 89 (Report of Medical History), dated 22 July 1969
* an SF 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care) dated between
8 December 1967 and 12 November 1968

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 28 August 1967.  He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 11C (infantry indirect fire crewman).

3.  His record contains a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) that shows in:

	a.  item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam during the period
5 February 1968 through 2 February 1969;

	b.  item 38 (Record of Assignments) he was assigned to Troop A, 
3d Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam from
17 February 1968 to 1 February 1969;

	c.  item 40 (Wounds) no entry (blank); and

	d.  item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no entry for the Purple Heart.

4.  He submitted:

	a.  two letters he wrote to his to his family, dated 9 March 1968 and 17 March 1968, wherein he indicates he was hospitalized after being wounded by a hand grenade.

	b.  an SF 600 that shows on 12 November 1968, he was treated at his unit's dispensary due to "sharp metal in the face and right upper leg from grenade."

	c.  an SF 89, dated 22 July 1969, that shows in item 18 (Statement of Examinee's Present Health in Own Words), he wrote "not in good health, sharp metal still in face and leg."

5.  On 27 August 1969, he was honorably released from active duty at the expiration of his term of service.  He was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve 


(USAR) Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining service obligation.  The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time does not show award of the Purple Heart.

6.  Review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant as a casualty.

7.  Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

8.  There is no evidence of record and the applicant did not provide sufficient evidence that shows he was wounded in Vietnam as a result of hostile action.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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's request for correction of his record to add the Purple Heart has been carefully considered and determined that there is insufficient evidence to support this request.

2.  Award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of enemy action, the injury/wound must have required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing or in ADCARS.

3.  Although he states he was wounded by a grenade in Vietnam, there is no corroborating evidence of record or provided by the applicant that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.

4.  In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.


5.  The applicant and all others should know that the sacrifices he made in service to the United States during the Vietnam conflict are deeply appreciated.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.

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)                                         AR20120020500



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120020500



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