BOARD DATE: 2 July 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20130021236
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 while serving in Vietnam, his platoon was on patrol one day when some kind of mine exploded. A fragment of shrapnel went into his right thigh. The unit field medic dressed the wound after removing a small piece of metal. When his unit returned to the base camp, the medic there cleaned the wound, removed some more metal, and told him that he could have a Purple Heart. He declined the Purple Heart because of his minor injury. Several months ago his leg was examined by the radiology department of the Cheyenne, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital. Their examination supports fragment wounds to his right thigh.
3. The applicant provides:
* Self-authored statement, dated 30 August 2013
* DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* VA Compensation and Pension exam detail, dated 14 September 2012
* VA multi-document, pages 13-36, dated 26 November 2012
* VA rating decision, dated 26 February 2013
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
17 December 1965 and held military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). The highest rank/grade he attained while serving on active duty was specialist four/E-4.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he was assigned to Vietnam from 26 November 1966 to 23 November 1967 and served with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 199th Infantry Brigade from
26 November 1966 to 23 November 1967.
4. He was honorably released from active duty on 24 November 1967. His DD Form 214 does not list the Purple Heart.
5. There is nothing in the typical source documents to confirm he was wounded in action and/or treated for a combat injury/wound:
* Item 38 (Record of Assignments) of his DA Form 20 does not show a patient status
* Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 does not reflect a combat wound or injury
* Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show award of the Purple Heart.
* his records do not contain general orders awarding the Purple Heart
* his name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing
* 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 and maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch failed to reveal Purple Heart orders
* his official records do not contain a Department of the Army message or a Western Union telegram documenting an injury or wound
* there are no military medical records which note any combat injuries or wounds
6. He provided several medical documents from the VA showing he received an injury to his leg.
7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against and 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 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 medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.
2. The applicant's service record is void of any evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action. 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.
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) AR20130021236
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20130021236
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