IN THE CASE OF:  

		BOARD DATE:  4 November 2014	  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140004811 


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.  He states he didn't receive a Purple Heart during his term of service and he was informed he had earned the medal.  He was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.  He was hit [by shrapnel] and his friend was killed on 10 May 1969.  His medic was Dr. J----.

3.  He provides his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), a self-authored statement, two letters of support, and a personal letter.  

4.  On 25 April 2014, he provided additional documents to include a letter of support and photographs of his lower back to show wounds.  

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 1 November 1968.  

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

* item 38 (Record of Assignments), he was hospitalized in a patient status at Madigan General Hospital, from 27 February to 20 March 1969
* item 31 (Foreign Service), he served in Vietnam from 16 April 1969 through 7 June 1970 
* item 40 (Wounds), no entries
* item 41 (Awards and Decorations), no listing of award of the Purple Heart

4.  His service record includes Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division, Special Orders Number 170, dated 19 June 1969, which show he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

5.  His service record does not contain orders that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.  The Vietnam casualty roster does not list his name.

6.  He was honorably released from active duty on 15 June 1970.  His DD Form 214 does not show award of the Purple Heart.

7.  He provided a self-authored statement in which he stated he served four months in Vietnam during 1969 to 1970.  He spent most of that time with the U.S. Army Infantry Division.  On 10 May 1969, while serving with the Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, they were involved in a firefight.  Private First Class (PFC) R.E.B. was killed and he was struck in the back by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.  He sustained cuts and a significant burn and he was treated with a field dressing.  The injury became infected and required treatment for about a month.  All of this time was spent in the field under the care of the medic.  He was told at the time that he was recommended for award of the Purple Heart, but he never received it.  Even though he minimized the injury so his parents wouldn't worry, it was nonetheless an injury worthy of the Purple Heart recognition.  

8.  He provided the following documents:

	a.  a personal letter, dated May 1986, in which he stated he was "put in" for a Purple Heart and he stated a piece of metal shrapnel hit him in the back.  

   b.  a letter, dated 24 January 2002, in which a former fellow Soldier stated he served with Company A, 1st Platoon 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment for the whole year of 1969.  In May [1969] in a ground action against hostile forces of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong, R.E.B. was killed and the applicant was wounded in the process of trying to help recover R.E.B.'s body.  The applicant's wounds consisted of fragments of shrapnel in the back.  The applicant served as a machine gunner in his squad.  He was the applicant's sergeant and assumed he had received his Purple Heart.  He recently reunited with some of the members he served with and it was brought to his attention that the applicant never received a Purple Heart for wounds he received in combat.  

	c.  an affidavit, dated 23 January 2014, in which a former fellow Soldier stated he served with the applicant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment in Vietnam in 1969.  They were involved in a firefight in May [1969] when the applicant was hit by shrapnel.  He helped the applicant to remove his gear then removed the burning metal from his lower back.  The medic, J.J., treated the applicant with a field dressing.  

	d.  a letter, dated 25 April 2014, in which a former fellow Soldier stated he served his tour in Vietnam as a medic from March 1969 through February 1970 while assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.  During this timeframe, they were involved in numerous encounters with hostile forces of North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong.  After serving, he was not fortunate enough to stay in contact with any of the men he served with until the end of 2013 when a fellow platoon member located him and shared his address and phone number with the applicant.  The applicant contacted him and asked if he recalled his injury during the hostile action of 10 May 1969.  Unfortunately, his memory does not recall particular dates and details; however, he did, for a number days, clean and dress an infected wound to the applicant's lower back while they served in M Platoon, Company A performing combat duties.  The applicant's injury appeared to heal adequately.  

9.  His service record contains a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214), dated 22 April 2002, which amended his DD Form 214 to add award of the Air Medal.  

10.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), 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.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 service record is void of medical documentation which confirms he was injured by shrapnel in his back and was treated by a medic.  

2.  His service record is void of evidence which indicates he sustained this injury as the result of hostile action.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.

3.  By regulation, in order to award the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish that a Soldier was wounded as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  

4.  The letters of support provided by the applicant were carefully considered; however, these statements alone are insufficient as a basis to grant him award of the Purple Heart.

5.  In the absence of evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action and the treatment was made a matter of official record, there is an insufficient basis upon which to 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)                                         AR20140004811





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140004811



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