IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 21 August 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140000754
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 reconsideration of his previous request for award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in effect, he should have been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received in action on 13 May 1969.
3. The applicant provides:
* Letter to the Honorable Clair McCaskill, dated 16 December 2013
* Privacy Act Release Form, dated 31 August 2013
* Letter to the Honorable Clair McCaskill, dated 13 August 2013
* Letter to Mr. Chris Holland (Undated)
* Letter to "Whom It May Concern" (Undated)
CONSIDERATION OF 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 AR20120019545, on 30 May 2013.
2. The applicant was inducted into the Army on 30 April 1968. He completed training as a light weapons infantryman. He arrived in Vietnam on 16 October 1968.
3. On 15 October 1969, the applicant departed Vietnam en-route to the United States. He was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) on 6 February 1970.
4. The Purple Heart is not listed on the applicant's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge).
5. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show he was wounded as a result of hostile action by enemy forces while he was in Vietnam.
6. A review of the applicant's Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) does not contain any documents that show he was wounded as a result of hostile action by enemy forces.
7. Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
8. The applicant provides letters from an individual who contends he was a combat medic in the unit to which he was assigned and a letter from a fellow Soldier who contends that the applicant was wounded in action on 13 May 1969, while he was in Vietnam. He also provides a copy of a letter from the combat medic to the Honorable Claire McCaskill stating that he treated the applicant for wounds he received on 13 May 1969. In the letter the medic states that this Board recognizes that the applicant was in battle and the only thing missing is the superior officer's failure to follow through and make sure that orders were published awarding him the Purple Heart.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or 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.
10. Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management), chapter 9, in effective at the time, provided for the preparation and submission of the DA Form 20. Paragraph 9-53 states that item 40 (Wounds) of the DA Form 20 shows the wounds and reflects a brief description of wounds or injuries requiring medical treatment received through hostile or enemy action, including those requiring hospitalization and the date wounded or injured.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's contentions have been noted. His supporting evidence has been considered. However, the letters provided by the applicant are not sufficiently mitigating to warrant the requested relief.
2. Although the medic believes that the only thing missing in this scenario is the superior officer's failure to make sure that orders were published awarding the applicant the Purple Heart, that is not true. If the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action by enemy forces, and if he (the medic) provided medical treatment, it was his responsibility to ensure that the treatment was made a matter of official record.
3. There is no evidence contained in his OMPF showing he was wounded as a result of hostile action by enemy forces while he was in Vietnam. There is no entry made on his DA Form 20 and his name is not shown on The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing.
4. In view of the foregoing, there is no 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20120019545, dated 3 June 2013.
_______ _ _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) AR20140000754
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140000754
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