IN THE CASE OF:	   WEEKS, MICHAEL O.

		BOARD DATE:	  5 November 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130006331 


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, in effect, award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states he sustained a shrapnel injury from an incoming round and the information was passed up the line at the time, but the paperwork never left his camp.  Many years later he was reunited with his former first sergeant (1SG) who remembered the incident and is now submitting a statement.

3.  The applicant provides:

* Congressional correspondence
* photographs
* statement from his former 1SG
* Tampa Bay Times article describing his visit to the Vietnam Memorial

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 records show he enlisted in the Regular Army on 10 January 1966 and he held military occupational specialty 72B (Communications Center Specialist).

3.  He served in Vietnam from 3 October 1966 to on or about 7 September 1967. 
He was assigned to Company D, 459th Signal Battalion, from 3 October 1966 to 30 April 1967 and to Company B, 41st Signal Battalion, from 1 May 1967 to 7 September 1967.

4.  He was honorably released from active duty on 20 December 1968.  His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.

5.  There is no evidence of record that shows he was injured or wounded as a result of hostile action or that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  Nothing in several typical sources show he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action.

	a.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show a combat wound or injury.

	b.  His personnel records do not contain an official Army message or a Western Union telegram notifying his next of kin of an injury or wound sustained in action.  This was the proper notification of injuries at the time.

	c.  His medical records, specifically his records of treatment, are not available for review with this case.

	d.  His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing.  This is a listing of Vietnam era casualties commonly is used to verify entitlement to award of the Purple Heart.

	e.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to him.

6.  He provides a Tampa Bay News article describing his visit to the Vietnam Memorial and photographs of Soldiers and/or medals.   He also provides a statement from his former 1SG, dated 13 October 2010, who states that Company D, 459th Signal Battalion, was attached to the 41st Signal Battalion in Qui Nhon for administrative and logistical support.  The applicant and another Soldier in his company came under sniper fire while travelling outside Qui Nhon on their way to his unit.  The applicant was wounded in the leg and upon his arrival at the unit, he (the 1SG) instructed fellow Soldiers to take him to the aid station.  He was treated and returned to the unit.  Additionally, the applicant was subjected to a night attack at the compound and city of Qui Nhon where there were several casualties.  He assisted with moving wounded Soldiers to the 85th Medical Evacuation Unit.

7.  Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), chapter 9, stated a brief description of wounds or injuries (including injury from gas) requiring medical treatment received through hostile or enemy action, including those requiring hospitalization would be entered in item 40 of the DA Form 20.  This regulation further stated that the date the wound or injury occurred would also be placed in item 40.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against and 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 criteria for award of the Purple Heart require the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury or wound must have required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  The applicant's service record is void of any evidence that he was wounded or injured as a result of combat.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing.  His available medical records do not reflect a combat injury.  There is nothing in multiple typical sources that confirm he was wounded as a result of hostile action or that he required treatment by medical personnel.

3.  The applicant's and the former 1SG's contentions, sincerity, and integrity are not in question.  However, in the absence of documentation that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action and treated for those wounds, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding him 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)                                         AR20130006331



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130006331



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