IN THE CASE OF: 

		BOARD DATE:	    20 February 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130011431 


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 Combat Infantryman Badge and Purple Heart. 

2.  The applicant states he was never awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or Purple Heart.  He was shot in the left arm in May 1969 in Vietnam.  His service treatment records should reflect this.

3.  The applicant provides his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).

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 25 September 1968 and he held military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).

3.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served as follows from:

* 6 March - 10 June 1969, in Vietnam assigned to the 1st Battalion 
(Air Mobile), 506th Infantry Regiment
* 11 June - 24 August 1969, in Japan assigned in a patient status to the 106th General Hospital
* 25 August 1969 to 5 March 1970, in Vietnam assigned to the 1st Battalion (Air Mobile), 506th Infantry Regiment

4.  He was honorably released from active duty on 24 September 1970 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve.

5.  The DD Form 214 he was issued does not show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart.

6.  His records are void of any orders awarding him the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart.  His records are void of any evidence that shows he served in active ground combat during his service in Vietnam.

7.  His medical records are not available for review with this case.

8.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show award of the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart.  

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

10.  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 Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the:

   a.  Combat Infantryman Badge is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer persons who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  

   b.  Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action.  Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that 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.  There are basically three requirements for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  The Soldier must be an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, he must be assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and he must actively participate in such ground combat.

2.  While the applicant's service in Vietnam in an infantry MOS is not in question, there is no evidence in his records and he did not provide any evidence that shows he was personally present and under hostile fire while his unit was actively engaged in ground combat with the enemy.  Regrettably, in the absence of evidence that conclusively shows he actively participated in ground combat, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  With respect to the Purple Heart, the criteria for this award requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify 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.  

4.  Although his records show he was assigned as a patient to the 106th General Hospital, Japan, from 11 June to 24 August 1969, it does not show the reason for his hospitalization or that his hospitalization was due to wounds/injury received as a result of hostile action.

5.  Notwithstanding his sincerity, his records are void of any evidence and he did not provide any evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster and his DA Form 20 does not indicate he received a combat-related wound.  In the absence of conclusive evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, regrettably, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis upon which to award the Purple Heart.
6.  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)                                         AR20130011431





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130011431



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