IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 31 October 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130004280
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 award of the Purple Heart in two applications.
2. The applicant states:
* in one application, he was wounded in the right ankle in 1966 and was treated at a field hospital and sent back to work
* in a second application, he was wounded in the left lower leg in 1966
* the information supporting this incident can be found in his medical records or in the unit morning report
* a good friend, R____ H____, was injured at the same time and they were in the hospital together
3. The applicant provides:
* DD Form 214
* Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) letter, dated 17 July 2012
* VA Rating Decision, dated 30 October 2012
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 13 September 1965. He served as a stock control and accounting specialist assigned to Company C, 168th Engineer Combat Battalion, in Vietnam from 1 February 1966 to 1 June 1966 and he was assigned to Company B, 588th Engineer Combat Battalion, in Vietnam from 2 June 1966 to 12 January 1967. On 12 September 1967, he was honorably released from active duty.
3. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
4. There is no evidence in the available records which shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
5. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
6. His medical records are not available for review.
7. A 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 VA documentation which states:
* he was granted service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (70 percent)
* he indicated in his stressor statement that a friend, R____ H____, was killed
* the U.S. Army Casualty Database information available verifies that R____ H____ was wounded in action on 26 July 1966
* the unit history submitted by the 588th Engineer Battalion did not document any enemy attacks during May 1966, but verifies a mortar attack occurred on 27 May 1966 and the unit sustained enemy attacks on 26-27 July 1967 resulting in casualties and damages
* he received a disability rating for a scar, left lower leg, non-symptomatic (0 percent)
9. 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 the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by military medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends he was wounded in the right ankle or left lower leg in Vietnam in 1966.
2. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for award of 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
3. The VA documentation provided by the applicant does not show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
4. Since there is no evidence in the available records that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, there is insufficient evidence to support 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 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) AR20130004280
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130004280
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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