IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 3 June 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130017390
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 (PH) for a shrapnel wound he received in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in 1969.
2. He states he suffered a wound to the back of his left thigh during a mortar attack while in the "bolo woods" area of the RVN. He was treated in the field and he still has shrapnel in his leg.
3. He provides no additional documents.
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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 10 January 1969.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
* item 38 (Record of Assignments) no entry indicating he was hospitalized in a patient status
* item 40 (Wounds) no entries
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no award of the PH
4. His service record contains a DA Form 8-274 (Medical Condition - Physical Profile Record), dated 2 August 1969, which indicates he was given a temporary profile for fainting spells with assignment limitations.
5. His service record does not contain orders that show he was awarded the PH and the Vietnam Casualty Roster does not list his name.
6. He was honorably released from active duty on 8 January 1971. His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he served in the RVN from 7 June 1969 to 8 June 1970. The PH is not listed as an authorized award.
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 Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the PH pertaining to the applicant.
8. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides the PH 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. The applicant contends he sustained a wound to the back of his left thigh during a mortar attack while in the bolo woods area in the RVN in 1969. However, his service record is void of evidence which shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action or treated for those wounds. His name is not listed on the Vietnam Casualty Roster and his DA Form 20 does not show he was wounded in action.
2. By regulation, in order to be awarded the PH, it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded in action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
3. In the absence of evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action, there is an insufficient basis upon which to base award of the PH 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) AR20130017390
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130017390
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