BOARD DATE:	  15 May 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130015043 


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 reconsideration of his request for correction of his 
DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Medical Badge.

2.  The applicant states the conclusions of the previous consideration of his request are incorrect.  He offers the following additional information.

   a.  He held military occupational specialty (MOS) 91B (Medical Specialist) and served with Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division from 9 January to 31 May 1969.

   b.  The procedure for Army field medics was to be assigned to HHC of the infantry battalion and attached to one of the battalion's field (line) infantry companies.  He states he was attached to Company B as a platoon medic and then to Company C as a senior aidman.  He identifies two unit commanders and a platoon leader who served with the unit during his attachment to Company C.

   c.  He was involved in numerous fire fights involving hostile contact with the enemy.  He provides information on an infantry unit commander and four enlisted infantry Soldiers who were assigned to his company and killed in action (during the period 21 January to 3 March 1969) while he was on missions with them.  He also provides information on the Medical Service Officer (MSO) assigned to HHC at the time who was responsible for keeping record of these actions.

   d.  When he was being sent to Japan due to illness, the MSO led him to believe that he would take care of his records and ensure that he received his medals, if he didn't return to Vietnam.

   e.  There should be a record of the missions he went on, the duties he performed in the field (both as an infantryman and a medic) after making contact with hostile forces during the missions and then providing medical treatment to the Soldiers who were injured.  He adds he met the requirements for award of the Combat Medical Badge.

   f.  He concludes by stating the information provided by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in the previous consideration of his case was the first time he learned that paperwork had not been submitted to recognize his service in Vietnam.

3.  The applicant provides printouts from the website www.virtualwall.org showing information pertaining to the five veterans he refers to who were killed in action in Vietnam and are memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the ABCMR in Docket Number AR20120013838, on 28 February 2013.

2.  The applicant was inducted into the Army on 19 March 1968 and awarded MOS 91A (Medical Corpsman).  Upon promotion to specialist four (E-4) he was awarded MOS 91B.

3.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he:

* deployed overseas to Vietnam on 7 September 1968 and was assigned as:
* Medical Corpsman (MOS 91A1O), Company B, 1st Medical Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, from 17 September 1968 to 
8 January 1969
* Medical Aidman (MOS 91B2O), HHC, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, from 9 January 1969 to 31 May 1969
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not list the Bronze Star Medal or Combat Medical Badge

4.  Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division, letter, dated 9 June 1969, subject :  Medical Evacuees, shows the applicant was released from the U.S. Army Vietnam Patient Casualty Company, on 1 June 1969, and assigned to the Medical Hold Detachment, 7th Field Hospital, Japan, effective 3 June 1969.

5.  The applicant's DD Form 214 shows he entered active duty this period on
19 March 1968 and he was honorably released from active duty on 16 January 1970.  He had completed 1 year, 9 months, and 28 days of net active service that included 10 months and 19 days of foreign service.  Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) does not show the Bronze Star Medal or the Combat Medical Badge.

6.  A review of his military personnel records failed to reveal any award orders or recommendations for award of the Bronze Star Medal or Combat Medical Badge.

7.  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, revealed a copy of Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division, General Orders number 9441, dated 29 August 1969, that awarded the applicant the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service in the Republic of Vietnam from September 1968 to September 1969.  The review did not reveal a copy of any other award orders.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning military awards and decorations.

	a.  The Bronze Star Medal is awarded in time of war for heroism and for meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy, or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.  As with all personal decorations, formal recommendations, approval through the chain of command, and announcement in orders are required.

	b.  The Combat Medical Badge is awarded to medical department personnel (colonel and below) who are assigned or attached to a medical unit of company or smaller size that is organic to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size which is engaged in active ground combat.  Battle participation credit is not sufficient; the infantry unit must have been in contact with the enemy and the Soldier must have been personally present and under fire during such ground combat.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant contends that his request for correction of his DD Form 214 should be reconsidered to show award of Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Medical Badge because the previous consideration of his request did not take into consideration the actual assignment/attachment process and duties that a combat medic performed in Vietnam.

2.  The applicant's request for reconsideration was carefully considered.

	a.  The evidence of record shows that award of a personal decoration requires a formal recommendation, approval through the chain of command, and announcement in orders.  There is no evidence of record that shows the applicant was recommended for or awarded the Bronze Star Medal.  Therefore, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for correcting the applicant's records to show award of the Bronze Star Medal.

   b.  It is acknowledged that the applicant met certain criteria for the Combat Medical Badge.  Specifically, he held an authorized medical MOS and he was  assigned/ attached to a medical/infantry unit of company or smaller size while he was serving in Vietnam.

   c.  The sincerity of the applicant's comments in support of his claim to the  Combat Medical Badge is not in question.  However, regrettably, the evidence he provides is insufficient to establish that he was personally present while the unit was in contact with the enemy and under fire during such ground combat.

   d.  Thus, the evidence of record provides an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding the applicant the Combat Medical Badge.

3.  Therefore, in view of all of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the requested relief.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__x___  ___x_____  ____x____  DENY APPLICATION

BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1.  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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20120013838, dated 28 February 2013.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by him in service to our Nation.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.




      _______ _  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)                                         AR20130015043



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130015043



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