IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 1 August 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130000406
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, in effect, that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and his right hand, arm, and shoulder injury incurred during his assignment in Germany.
3. The applicant provides a short letter explaining his application and copies of medical treatment records.
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 on 2 December 1958. He completed his one-station unit training as a combat engineer at Fort Hood, Texas and departed for assignment to Germany on 25 April 1959.
3. He was assigned to Company A, 24th Engineer Battalion during his entire tour and departed Germany on 11 December 1959.
4. On 18 November 1960, he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) at Fort Dix, New Jersey as an overseas returnee. He had served
1 year, 11 months, and 17 days of active service. His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) issued at the time of his REFRAD shows he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal.
5. A review of his official records failed to show any evidence of the applicant serving in an imminent danger area.
6. The documents provided by the applicant show that he had surgery on his right shoulder in 2012 and that he was diagnosed by the Department of Veterans Affairs as having PTSD in 2010 based his being attacked by two German civilians while on guard duty in Germany in 1960.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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. That regulation also provides that the Purple Heart is not awarded for PTSD.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicants contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart has been noted and found to lack merit.
2. The Purple Heart is awarded for wounds/injuries incurred as a result of enemy action and the applicant has failed to show through the evidence of record and the evidence submitted with his application that his shoulder injury was the result of enemy action.
3. Additionally, the regulation governing the criteria for award of the Purple Heart specifically states that PTSD is not a qualifying reason for award of the Purple Heart.
4. Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, there appears to be no basis to grant his request for award of 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) AR20130000406
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130000406
2
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110000705
Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). It states the Purple Heart is awarded to members wounded in action. By regulation, in order to support award of the Purple Heart the member must have been wounded in action.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100016215
Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). c. A statement, dated 22 January 2010, from a retired SFC and comrade who served with the applicant in Vietnam and has known him over the years. In view of the foregoing, there is insufficient evidence to support award of the Purple Heart in this case.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130014055
Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). The applicant requests correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Decorations and Awards), in effect at the time, provided that the Purple Heart was awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States who was wounded in action against an armed enemy of the United States or...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2009 | 20090004386
The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart. The applicant states that his records should be corrected to show that he received the Purple Heart for destruction of his right eye as a result of machine gun operation while he was in Germany in the spring of 1959. The applicants military records are not available to the Board for review.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110015790
His military service records do not contain any orders awarding him the CIB or Purple Heart. In the absence of such evidence, there is an insufficient basis for award of the Purple Heart in this case. There is no evidence in the available records to show the applicant should be awarded the CIB.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100010922
The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart for wounds received in Vietnam. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient evidence to establish that he meets the criteria for award of the Purple Heart, there appears to be no basis to grant his request at this time. __________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.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130006861
The applicant states he suffered a head wound in Korea on 24 July 1953 due to a demolition explosion, with the 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion. He was issued a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214 - Report of Separation from Active Duty) that corrected his DD Form 214 ending on 11 October 1960 to show he previously enlisted in the RA on 14 July 1952 for 3 years and he was honorably discharged on 11 October 1954 for the purpose of immediate reenlistment. Item 40 (Wounds) of his...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2008 | 20080011989
However, by regulation, in order to award the PH it is necessary to establish that the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, that it required treatment by military medical personnel, and that a record of treatment was made a matter of official record. The evidence of record provides no indication that the applicant was ever wounded in action, or that he was ever treated for a combat-related wound or injury by military medical personnel. In order...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2015 | 20150002079
The applicant states: * he enlisted in the Regular Army for 3 years in order to receive airborne training * after jump school he was sent to Fort Jackson, SC, to become an instructor on the techniques of the firing range where he did well and received several letters of commendation * in early 1960, he again requested overseas duty and was sent to the 24th Infantry Division in Germany in February 1960 * shortly after his arrival, he was sent on temporary duty to Vietnam to help the South...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2014 | 20140002832
Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows a. in item 31 (Foreign Service) service in: * Korea from 11 December 1959 through 28 January 1961 * Germany from 16 July 1963 through 11 June 1966 * Vietnam from 1 December 1966 through 19 October 1967 b. in item 41 (Awards and Decorations) award of the: * National Defense Service Medal * Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar *...