BOARD DATE: 17 July 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130021199
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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states:
* while under fire, he cut his head and injured his neck and back when his head hit the bar above the door of a bunker
* the chaplain put him in for the Purple Heart, but he turned it down
* after years of thinking about it, even though he injured himself while under enemy fire, he deserves the Purple Heart
* he is now receiving 100 percent disability
3. The applicant provides no supporting 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 23 September 1966.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
a. item 38 (Record of Assignments) he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 41st Signal Battalion in Vietnam from 7 March to
8 September 1969;
b. item 40 (Wounds) contains no entry; and
c. item 41 (Awards and Decorations) contains no entry for the Purple Heart.
4. On 13 September 1969, he was honorably released from active duty after completing 2 years, 11 months, and 21 days. The DD Form 214 he was issued at the time does not show award of the Purple Heart.
5. A review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant as a casualty.
6. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
7. There is no evidence in his official military personnel file that show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
8. 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 request for award of the Purple Heart has been carefully considered.
2. Award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify a Soldier was injured/wounded as a result of enemy action, the injury/wound must have required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing or in ADCARS. There is no evidence in his service personnel records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.
3. In view of the foregoing, there is 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 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) AR20130021199
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130021199
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