IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 24 September 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130003550
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 show the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he received the Purple Heart in Vietnam but he did not know the award was not listed on his DD Form 214.
3. The applicant provides:
* DD Form 214
* letter from the Commanding Officer, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, dated 25 May 1969
* DA Form 66 (Officer Qualification Record)
* DD Form 4 (Enlistment Record)
* copy of his Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Identification (ID) Card
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 28 August 1967. He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 91S (Preventive Medicine Specialist).
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 8 June 1968 to 1 June 1969. Item 40 (Wounds) is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart.
4. There is no evidence of record 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 3 August 1970.
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 (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.
8. He provides a letter from the Commanding Officer, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, dated 25 May 1969, that is addressed to his parents. The purpose of the letter was to inform his parents that he had been awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star Medal and to point out the outstanding support he provided to the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division.
9. The DA Form 66 provided by the applicant pertains to his service in the Army National Guard as a commissioned officer beginning on 19 April 1972. This document does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award in item 21 (Awards and Decorations).
10. He also provides a VA ID card which includes the entry "Purple Heart" above his printed name.
11. 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 his DD Form 214 should be corrected to show 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 and no orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to him were located in ADCARS.
3. 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 corroborating evidence, the letter from the Commanding Officer and the VA ID card are insufficient evidence in which to correct his DD Form 214 to show this award.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
BOARD VOTE:
____X___ __X_____ ___X____ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
________ ________ ________ 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) AR20130003550
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130003550
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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