IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 25 June 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20120022113
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 he was wounded during combat while in Vietnam but he was never awarded the Purple Heart.
3. The applicant provides a DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) and a Medical Record-Consultation Sheet.
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 2 March 1971. He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 3 August 1971 to 23 April 1972. Item 40 (Wounds) is blank and item
41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show award of the Purple Heart.
4. There is no evidence in his military records that indicates he was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was treated for a combat-related wound.
5. He was honorably released from active duty on 23 April 1972. His DD Form 214, as corrected by a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214), dated 20 September 2010, 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's name as a casualty.
7. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, 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.
8. He provides a Medical Record-Consultation Sheet, dated 28 August 1985, that shows he complained of pain and burning sensation around scar tissue due to a shrapnel wound on his right arm above the elbow. This document does not indicate the date and/or location where the injury was sustained or the circumstances surrounding such injury.
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 contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart has been carefully considered.
2. His DA Form 20 contains no entries indicating he was wounded in action and there is no evidence in his military record that indicates he was treated for a combat-related wound. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing. The governing regulation requires that substantiating evidence must be provided to verify the injury was the result of hostile action and that the injury required treatment by medical personnel. In the absence of such evidence, the Medical Record-Consultation Sheet, which does not indicate the date and/or circumstances surrounding the wound, is insufficient evidence on which to base awarding the Purple Heart in this case.
3. In view of the foregoing, there an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's 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) AR20120022113
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20120022113
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