IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 19 November 2013
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130006322
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 due to enemy fire in Long Binh, Vietnam in 1966. As a medic he treated himself but he was medically evacuated to the 5th Evacuation Hospital for follow-up treatment.
3. The applicant provides no supporting documentation.
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's service medical and dental records are believed to be on permanent loan to the Department of Veterans Affairs and are not available for review.
3. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 9 April 1964, completed training, and was awarded military occupational specialty 91B (Medical Specialist).
4. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) provides the following:
* advancement to specialist four
* service in the Dominican Republic from 30 April through 29 October 1965
* service in Vietnam form 16 May 1966 to 30 March 1967
* he served in Vietnam with the 50th Medical Company from 4 June 1966 to
30 March 1967
* his conduct and efficiency ratings were exclusively excellent
* in block 40 (Wounds) no entry
* no entry showing award of the Purple Heart
5. The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 30 March 1967. His DD Form 214 (Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows his awards as the Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Dominican Republic), Safe Driver Badge (1 year), Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960)
6. A review of the Vietnam Casualty List failed to locate any reference to the applicant.
7. 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 the Purple Heart.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards), paragraph 2-8 provides that the Purple Heart is awarded to an individual who is wounded in action against an enemy of the United States, the armed force of a foreign country which is or has been engaged, while serving with a friendly foreign force against an opposing force even though the U.S. is not engaged, as the result of any act of such enemy or opposing force or as a result an act of any hostile foreign force. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The record contains no documentation to support the applicant's contention that he received a wound or injury that was the result of hostile action. Regrettably, without a record of treatment for a wound sustained as a result of enemy action entitlement to the Purple Heart cannot be established.
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) AR20130006322
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130006322
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