IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 12 June 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130017749
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 (PH).
2. He states he was wounded in Vietnam and he was airlifted.
3. He provides his DA Form 2658 (Health Record - Abstract of Service), two eyewitness statements, his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), and Daily Staff Journal or Duty Officer's Logs.
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 18 March 1969 and was honorably discharged on 13 March 1970 for enlistment in the Regular Army (RA).
3. He enlisted in the RA on 14 March 1970 and he served in Vietnam from 16 August 1969 to 15 August 1970.
4. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not list any entries in item 40 (Wounds) or an entry for award of the PH in item 41 (Awards and Decorations).
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 13 March 1973. His DD Form 214 issued for this period does not show award of the PH.
7. He provided eyewitness statements from two former fellow Soldiers who attested they served with him in Vietnam during 1969 to 1970. One of the former fellow Soldiers stated the applicant was hit in the back by a large piece of shrapnel. He remembers seeing the shrapnel protruding from the applicant's back, he pulled it out, and burned his fingers in the process.
8. He also provided Daily Staff Journal or Duty Officer's Logs and operations summaries for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division which reported incidents that occurred in February 1970. The journals reported statistical losses of Soldiers who were wounded in action or killed in action.
9. 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.
10. 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 was wounded in Vietnam. However, his service record is void of evidence and he has not provided sufficient evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action or treated for those wounds.
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. Although the eyewitness statement indicates the applicant was hit in the back by a large piece of shrapnel, his service record is void of medical documents which indicate 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.
4. 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) AR20130017749
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130017749
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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