BOARD DATE: 1 July 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130020343
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.
2. The applicant states he was wounded on two separate incidents during the Vietnam conflict which required evacuation from the field to medical facilities. He contends he received an enemy gunshot wound to the right side of the neck and shrapnel to the right and left thighs from an enemy mortar. He also injured his right wrist requiring stitches and removal of shrapnel caused by an enemy rocket propelled grenade.
3. The applicant provides:
* DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Form 21-526 (Veteran's Application for Compensation or Pension)
* letter to the VA, dated 15 April 1971
* VA Form 21-6782 (Original Disability Compensation)
* Veterans Benefits Award Certificate
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 30 June 1969.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 9 April 1970 to 5 March 1971. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show any Purple Hearts.
4. There is no evidence in his military records that indicates he was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was treated for a combat-related wound.
5. He was honorably released from active duty on 6 March 1971. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
6. A review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam Casualty Listing does not show the applicant's name as a combat casualty.
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, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
8. He provides VA documentation indicating he requested and he was granted service-connected disability compensation for wounds to the right wrist and right thigh. The VA documentation does not indicate the circumstances surrounding his injuries.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart has been carefully considered.
2. His DA Form 20 contains no entries indicating he was wounded in action and there is no evidence in his military record that indicates he was treated for a combat-related wound. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing. The governing regulation requires that substantiating evidence must be provided to verify the injury was the result of hostile action and that the injury required treatment by medical personnel. In the absence of such evidence, the documentation provided, which does not indicate the circumstances surrounding his injuries, is insufficient evidence in which to base awarding the Purple Heart in this case
3. In view of the foregoing, there an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
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) AR20130020343
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130020343
2
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ARMY | BCMR | CY2014 | 20140017773
Personnel wounded as a result of non-hostile action who are not placed on hospital's very seriously injured lists are not reported as casualties in accordance with current regulations. 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. There is no available evidence and he did not provide sufficient evidence...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110007970
The applicant requests, in effect, award of the Purple Heart for a shrapnel wound he received in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The applicant states he received a shrapnel wound to his left wrist while serving on active duty in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. _______ _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.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2014 | 20140000059
The applicant requests correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart. There are no medical records in his official military personnel file that show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100018043
The applicant states he was wounded while serving in Vietnam, but he was not awarded the Purple Heart. In order to support awarding a member the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish that the wound for which the award is being made required treatment by medical personnel and the medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action must have been made a matter of official record. The evidence of record shows the executive officer of the applicant's former unit in Vietnam...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100010817
His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty roster, his DA Form 20 does not document any combat wounds, and there is no other evidence in his service records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds. Regrettably, absent evidence which conclusively shows that the applicant sustained wounds or injuries as a result of hostile action, that he was treated by medical personnel for those wounds or injuries, and that this treatment was made a...
ARMY | BCMR | CY1995 | 9511013C070209
Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, provides in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as the result of hostile action. While the evidence of record shows that the applicant was a combat casualty as the result of shrapnel wounds, it does not specifically show that the wounds were the result of enemy action. RECOMMENDATION: That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the individual concerned was awarded...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110014610
The applicant states: * he served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 3 April 1969 through 2 April 1971 * on 2 February 1970, he incurred and was later diagnosed with residual shell fragment wound, left leg, left foot, left side, and right thigh * his wounds were the result of a fragmentation hand grenade exploding also injuring another Soldier * he received medical treatment at the local medical hospital and he was presented the Purple Heart by a captain assigned to the...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100029044
IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 16 June 2011 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20100029044 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20090021779, on 22 June 2010. Therefore, without documentation to show he was treated for wounds/injuries that were the result of enemy action, there is insufficient...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100017690
He was treated for his shrapnel wound and other injuries and was released with his medical records to his unit. In this case, the applicant's name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty roster, his DA Form 20 does not reflect a combat wound, his record is void of any orders that show he was awarded the Purple Heart, and there is no conclusive evidence in his service personnel records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds. There is no...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130021236
Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). The VA medical record he provides does not satisfy the requirement for award of the Purple Heart. In the absence of additional documentation that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action and treated for those wounds by military medical personnel at the time of the wounding, there is insufficient evidence upon which to base award of the Purple Heart.