IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 20 May 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130016732
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 his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) with an effective date of 11 December 1970 be updated to include his Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states in June 1969 he was in hand-to-hand combat and received his wounds. He was carried away in a helicopter and wasn't able to hear for more than 3 days. When he was offered the Purple Heart, he turned it down because his father was passing away from cancer at the time, and he didn't want him to get the news and upset him even more. This incident should be recorded in his medical records.
3. The applicant provides his DD Form 214.
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. On 12 December 1968, he was inducted into the Army of the United States.
3. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from 29 May 1969 to 28 May 1970. He was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry on 11 June 1969.
4. On 11 December 1970, he was released from active duty. His DD Form 214 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
5. His service medical records are not available for review and his name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
6. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), 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 awarding the applicant the Purple Heart.
7. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), then in effect, provided that the Purple Heart was awarded to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services had been wounded, killed, or who had died as a result of 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 is no evidence in his military records and he has provided no evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action. His service medical records are not available for review.
2. In the absence of evidence showing he was wounded as a result of hostile action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that the treatment was made a matter of official record, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding the Purple Heart.
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) AR20130016732
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