BOARD DATE: 11 March 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130011717
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 that during his deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005 to 2007, his left ear drum was perforated as a result of multiple rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices exploding near him while he was conducting operations in the village of Udaim, Iraq, on 3 December 2005.
3. The applicant provides:
* 2 letters from the Awards and Decorations Branch, U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC), Fort Knox, KY
* self-authored letter, dated 10 April 2012
* self-authored statements, dated 20 September 2009
* 2 witness statements
* DD Form 2215E (Reference Audiogram)
* DA Form 4700 (Medical Record Supplemental Medical Data)
* letter from the UC Davis Medical Group, Folsom Family Practice, Folsom, CA, dated 7 January 2011
* rating decision letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), dated 14 May 2010
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. After having a period of enlisted service in the Army National Guard, the applicant was appointed as a first lieutenant in the California Army National Guard (CAARNG) on 18 August 1979.
2. On 19 April 2001, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
3. He was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on 18 July 2005.
4. On 31 July 2007, the applicant was retired from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Retired Reserve). His National Guard Bureau Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of Service) and DD Form 214 do not list the Purple Heart.
5. On 8 December 2011, by letter, an HRC official from the Awards and Decorations Branch notified the applicant that as previously stated in correspondence dated 29 December 2009, his request for award of the Purple Heart for a foot injury sustained on 4 December 2005 was disapproved. He was further advised that continued processing of his request for award of the Purple Heart based on hearing loss was contingent upon him providing two eyewitness statements describing the circumstances in which his hearing was compromised.
6. On 10 April 2012, the applicant resubmitted his request to HRC for award of the Purple Heart. He provided two eyewitness statements to HRC from former Soldiers of his unit deployed with him in Iraq attesting to events occurring while in the village of Udaim, Iraq. Both statements describe intense volumes of incoming and outgoing fire which lasted several hours. The applicant also provided a DD Form 2215E, dated 16 June 2005, and annotated "pre-deployment" and a DA Form 4700, dated 11 October 2006, and annotated "post-deployment." His DA Form 4700 shows unilateral mild high frequency sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear and no significant decrease since his 2005 audiometry.
7. On 19 February 2013, officials from the Awards and Decorations Branch, HRC denied the applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart and advised him to seek relief with the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR).
8. The applicant provides self-authored statements indicating he was seen by a medic who placed cotton in his ear and he was returned to duty. He also provides the documents he provided to HRC and a copy of his VA rating which shows he received an overall 70 percent disability rating.
9. A review of his available records fails to show any treatment records for a combat injury while he was deployed to Iraq and he does not provide any evidence of such treatment.
10. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that 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 medical treatment, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The criteria for an award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action, that the injury/wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
2. Although he provides medical documentation for his hearing loss, this documentation is after the fact and he fails to provide medical documentation for treatment received while he was in combat. Further, the witness statements he provided do not indicate that he received medical treatment. As such, his injury does not meet the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.
3. Notwithstanding his sincerity, in the absence of documentation that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, treated for those wounds/injuries, and his treatment was made a matter of record, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case.
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) AR20130011717
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130011717
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