BOARD DATE:	  18 February 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130011222 


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 should be awarded the Purple Heart for an injury he sustained during combat to his left leg when the roof of a building he was on caved in while under enemy fire.  His commander asked him if he wanted to be recommended for a Purple Heart but he was young and immature at the time [and he said no].

3.  The applicant provides his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty), and Standard Form (SF) 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care).

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 12 July 1966 and he held military occupational specialty 76Y (Supply Specialist).  He served in Vietnam while assigned as follows from:

* 26 January 1967 - 13 December 1967, 149th Military Intelligence (MI) Group
* 14 December 1967 - 10 December 1968, 525th MI Group

3.  The applicant provides an SF 600, wherein it shows he was treated on 6 March 1968 at the 3rd Field Hospital, Vietnam, when he fell and sustained a laceration to his left calf; debris was removed from the wound and it was drained.  On 8 March 1968, the wound was stitched and, on 16 March 1968, the sutures were removed.  

4.  He was honorably released from active duty on14 December 1968 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve.  He completed 2 years, 5 months, and 3 days of creditable active service.

5.  Neither the DD Form 214 nor the subsequent DD Form 215 he was issued shows the Purple Heart.  His record is void of orders for the Purple Heart.

6.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart.

7.  A review of the Adjutant General's Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing failed to show his name as a casualty.

8.  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.

9.  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 criteria for award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify that a Soldier received a wound/injury as a result of hostile action, the wound/injury required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  Although the applicant may have received a laceration to his left leg while he was serving in Vietnam, the evidence of record does not show and he has not provided any evidence that shows this wound was incurred as a result of hostile action.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster, his DA Form 20 does not indicate he received a combat-related wound, and the SF Form 600 he provided does not show the wound he received was caused by hostile action.  

3.  Notwithstanding the applicant's sincerity, in the absence of documentation that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis upon which to award the applicant the Purple Heart in this case.

4.  Nevertheless, this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation.  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)                                         AR20130011222





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130011222



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