BOARD DATE:	  18 September 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140002581 


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 earlier request for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states, in effect:

* he is in total disagreement with the Board's decision and is requesting reconsideration of the Board's decision
* he is not seeking to be glorified by this award; he is seeking the citation for which it was meant
* he feels that he submitted the required evidence to validate his application in the previous record of proceedings (ROP)
* he regrets that his sergeant in charge felt it unnecessary to document his injuries or have them checked by medical personnel
* he feels a medical injustice was done by the sergeant because he was not qualified to diagnose his injuries
* in 2005, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) determined his severe hearing loss and tinnitus were serviced-connected and gave him hearing aids
* if an X-ray had not been done, the shrapnel would not have been found
* he feels that the shifting of the shrapnel in his eye all of these years caused his dizziness and headaches




3.  The applicant provides:

* five pages of self-authored statements
* two newspaper articles

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 ABCMR in Docket Number AR20120016456 on 26 March 2013.

2.  The applicant provided new arguments and newspaper articles that were not previously considered by the Board and warrant consideration at this time.

3.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 22 October 1968.  He served in Vietnam from 28 March 1969 to 17 March 1970.

4.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:  

* item 38 (Record of Assignments) he was assigned to:

* Company A, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry
	Brigade from 14 April 1969 to 21 January 1970 
* Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry 	Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade from 22 January to 16 March 1970

* item 40 (Wounds) is blank 
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not list award of the Purple Heart

5.  On 21 October 1971, he was honorably released from active duty after completing a total of 3 years of active duty service.  His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.

6.  The applicant provided the following documents and arguments in support of his request for reconsideration:

	a.  Two articles from the Monitor and Valley Newspaper, dated 29 April 2013, which indicate the Air Force Board of Corrections excused the 3-year statute of limitations in the interest of justice and awarded a former service member the Purple Heart 48 years after he sustained a back injury during enemy action in Vietnam in 1965.

	b.  He disagrees with the following statements on page 2 of the previous ROP Consideration of Evidence:  

		(1)  paragraph 2, the applicant indicated that he had previously been a welder;  

		(2)  paragraph 6, the supporting statement provided by a fellow Soldier recounts the events of the night in question and indicates that it was very likely that the shrapnel behind the applicant's eye occurred during the night in question; and

		(3)  paragraph 7, the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action again an enemy.

	c.  He essentially indicated that:

* prior to his military service, he was employed part time in a welding and radiator shop, but did not weld 
* he was on a machinegun team in Vietnam in August 1969 when he heard an explosion and men screaming they had been hit by shrapnel
* he had taken off his glasses, placed them on his rucksack, which was moved, and as a result, he was unable to locate his glasses
* he was manning the machinegun when after the 2d explosion, he felt stinging in his left eye and face from dirt and debris
* he had trouble seeing and hearing
* the medic was busy treating two other severely wounded men and told him to wait until daylight to have his eye and hearing checked
* he flushed his eye and face off, hoping to wash the dirt and debris off 

* he told the sergeant, but he assumed it was the dirt and did not write a report because he was focused on the more seriously injured 
* he was told to continue washing his eye and after a few days it was not red anymore and had shifted so it was not bothering him anymore
* his hearing also returned, but he noticed that he had ringing in both ears

7.  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; however, there is still insufficient evidence to support this request.

2.  Award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of enemy action, the injury/wound must have required medical treatment by medical personnel at the time of the injury, and this medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20120016456 on 23 March 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)                                         AR20140002581



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140002581



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