BOARD DATE: 28 October 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140005645
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 he was wounded in his left hip in 1971 in Vietnam Region 4 (Delta).
3. The applicant provides documents extracted from his military medical records.
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. On 13 December 1956, he was inducted into the Army of the United States. On 12 December 1958, he was released from active duty. On 2 January 1959, he enlisted in the Regular Army.
3. He was assigned to the Delta Military Assistance Command, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) from 24 December 1969 through 14 December 1970, and from 5 May 1971 through 27 March 1972.
4. On 30 April 1977, he was retired and placed on the Retired List the following day. His DD Form 214 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
5. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not contain any entries describing wounds or injuries received as a result of enemy action that required medical treatment. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
6. There are no orders in his Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ) that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
7. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
8. 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 Military Awards Branch of the HRC, failed to reveal any orders that show he was awarded the Purple Heart.
9. The military medical records he provided are dated from 25 July 1974 to
28 April 1977. An entry, dated 25 July 1974, mentions a painful left hip and a
1.5 cm metallic bullet fragment in soft tissue, no bone abnormality. However, there is no mention of the etiology of the bullet fragment. The remainder of the records document treatment and consultations referring to his hypertension.
10. Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), chapter 9 of the version in effect at the time, stated, in pertinent part, that a brief description of wounds or injuries (including injury from gas) requiring medical treatment that were received through hostile or enemy action, including those requiring hospitalization, would be entered in item 40 of the DA Form 20. This regulation further stated the date the wound or injury occurred would also be placed in item 40.
11. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), then in effect, provided that the Purple Heart was awarded to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services had been wounded, killed, or who had died as a result of a wound sustained 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. Item 40 of his DA Form 20 does not contain any entries indicating he was wounded as a result of hostile or enemy action. There are no orders in his MPRJ that show he was awarded the Purple Heart. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.
2. The military medical records he provided did not show any evidence he was wounded as a result of hostile or enemy action. Although an entry on 25 July 1974 mentions a metallic bullet fragment, the entry does not indicate he received it as a result of hostile or enemy action.
3. Therefore, in the absence of evidence showing he was wounded as a result of hostile action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that the treatment was made a matter of official record, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding 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) AR20140005645
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140005645
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