IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 26 June 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130019438
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 while he was trying to light a gas stove in the mess hall in Tuy Hoa, Vietnam it exploded, burning him on his left arm and the left side of his face. He was taken to a compound make-shift hospital where he was treated for burns. He still experiences a tingling sensation due to nerve damage.
3. The applicant provides no additional evidence.
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 10 February 1969. He held military occupational specialty (MOS) 94B (cook).
3. His record contains a DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) that shows in:
* item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam from
20 November 1969 to 3 November 1970
* item 40 (Wounds) no entry
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) no Purple Heart
4. He was honorably released from active duty on 3 November 1970. He completed 1 year, 8 months, and 24 days of total active service.
5. A review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam Casualty Listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
7. 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 treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. It further states examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not justify award of the Purple Heart are as follows:
* Frostbite or trench foot injuries
* Heat stroke
* Food poisoning not caused by enemy agents
* Chemical, biological, or nuclear agents not released by the enemy
* Battle fatigue
* Disease not directly caused by enemy agents
* Accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action
* Self-inflicted wounds, except when in the heat of battle and not involving gross negligence
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends he was wounded when a gas stove exploded; however, such an injury does not meet the requirements for the award of the Purple Heart. The criteria for award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
3. His record is void of evidence and he did not provide any evidence to show he was injured as a result of enemy action, his wounds by his admission were caused by an accident when he was attempting to light a gas stove in the performance of his MOS.
4. Additionally, his name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing.
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) AR20130019438
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130019438
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