IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  30 July 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120023010 


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 for wounds received as a result of friendly fire.

2.  The applicant states, in effect:

	a.  while serving as a medic in Vietnam, he was wounded by short rounds fired by Company E, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry on 30 June 1970.  The defective rounds fell short of their intended target and were intended for enemy troops.  The direct hits from these mortars killed two Soldiers and wounded more than 
22 others.  Although he had shrapnel wounds to his right shoulder and the right buttocks, he attended to the wounded.  A nurse and corpsman treated his wounds.

	b.  at that time, this was considered a friendly fire incident, but changes in  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) were recently discovered while successfully petitioning for posthumous award of the Purple Heart for those killed in this friendly fire incident.

	c.  he received the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam.   




3.  The applicant provides:

* eyewitness statements
* emails
* photograph of a Soldier with a bandage on his right shoulder
* x-rays
* Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) Docket Number AR20110019769

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 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 October 1969.  He served as a medical specialist in Vietnam from 14 March 1970 to 
18 April 1971 assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, at the time in question.  He was honorably released from active duty, on 19 April 1971, and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining service obligation.

3.  His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.  

4.  There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records.

5.  Item 20 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank.

6.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.

7.  He provides eyewitness statements from fellow Soldiers attesting the applicant ignored his own two wounds to treat wounded Soldiers on 30 June 1970.


8.  He provides a photograph which shows the bandage on his right shoulder.

9.  He provides an x-ray and documentation, dated in 2012, which states he has shrapnel/foreign bodies in his pelvis and right shoulder.

10.  He provides a copy of ABCMR Docket Number AR20110019767 wherein a deceased former service member, who was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, was awarded the Purple Heart for being killed in action as a result of friendly fire, in the heat of battle, on 30 June 1970.

11.  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 Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for award of the Purple Heart.

12.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, 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.

13.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for award of the Purple Heart 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends he was wounded by friendly fire, rounds that were intended for enemy troops, on 30 June 1970 in Vietnam.

2.  The x-ray and documentation provided by the applicant that shows shrapnel/foreign bodies in his pelvis and right shoulder were noted.  However, there is no evidence the shrapnel/foreign bodies were the result of hostile action.

3.  There is no evidence of record which shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.  

4.  There is also no evidence of record which shows he was wounded 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 as required by the governing regulation.  Regrettably, in the absence of corroborating evidence showing he was wounded as a result of friendly fire in Vietnam, the eyewitness statements provided by the applicant are not sufficient as a basis for awarding the 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)                                         AR20120023010





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120023010



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