IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 30 January 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130009878
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. He states he was wounded by friendly fire during a firefight in 1968. He explains that he was a platoon leader in Company A, 1/12th Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry. He maintains that while in contact, a Cobra helicopter fired two rockets that hit the trees over his platoon. He adds that it killed his platoon sergeant. He offers he was not awarded the Purple Heart and believed that it was because the wounding was the result of friendly fire.
3. The applicant does not provide any additional evidence.
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. After having prior enlisted service in the Regular Army, on 27 February 1967, the applicant was appointed as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve and entered extended active duty. He served in Vietnam from 3 December 1967 to 16 November 1968 and 22 July 1970 to 19 July 1971. He was honorably released from active duty on 10 January 1972.
3. His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show award of the Purple Heart. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing.
4. There is no documentation in the available record that shows he sustained wounds or was treated for wounds incurred as a result of hostile action.
5. 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.
6. The applicant provided a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs, dated 18 July 2011, that shows he was granted a zero percent disability rating for "status post-left hand cyst removal and shrapnel removal with residual scar."
7. 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 as a direct result of an act of such enemy provided the wound necessitated treatment by a medical officer. For the purpose of considering an award of this decoration, a "wound" is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy.
8. The same regulation states, in pertinent part, in accordance with Title 10 USC 1129 for award of the Purple Heart, the Secretary of the Army will treat a member of the Armed Forces who is killed or wounded in action by friendly fire in the same manner as a member who is killed or wounded in action as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States. A member described in this subsection is a member who is killed or wounded in action by weapons fire while directly engaged in armed conflict, other than as the result of an act of an enemy of the United States, unless (in the case of a wound) the wound is the result of willful misconduct of the member.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are no available medical records and he did not provide sufficient evidence which shows he was wounded or treated for wounds as a result of friendly or hostile fire which is required to substantiate his claim for award of the Purple Heart. In the absence of medical evidence to substantiate his wounding, there is insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant and all others should know that the sacrifices he made in service to the United States during the Vietnam War are deeply appreciated. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
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) AR20130009878
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130009878
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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