IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 13 June 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120021044
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.
2. The applicant states:
a. he was a gunner on a helicopter and he was shot in the foot. Sitting on the right side of the chopper, he was always getting slivers of metal in his leg from rockets. He was on a gun ship and he was in two helicopter crashes.
b. he recently applied for disability and in the process it was discovered there were no records of his wound or him going to sick call when he returned from the mission.
c. their headquarters was destroyed during a bomb attack and no records are to be found. The only proof he has are two photographs of him on crutches with a screwdriver stuck through his boot.
3. The applicant provides a photograph of a Soldier on crutches with a bandage on his foot.
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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 12 November 1968 for a period of 3 years. He served as a helicopter repairman in Vietnam from 25 July 1968 to 18 July 1969. On 7 October 1971, he was honorably released from active duty and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement) to complete his remaining service obligation.
3. There is no evidence in the available records which shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
4. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show entitlement to the Purple Heart and item 40 (Wounds) is blank. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty listing.
5. 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 pertaining to the applicant.
6. He provides a photograph of a Soldier on crutches with a bandage on his foot and the Soldier is holding a boot with a screwdriver through it. However, there is no evidence this foot injury was the result of hostile action.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards. The Purple Heart requires evidence to verify:
* the wound was the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records
2. The photograph provided by the applicant does not show his foot injury was the result of hostile action.
3. There is insufficient evidence in the available record that shows the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Regrettably, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding him a 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) AR20120021044
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120021044
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