BOARD DATE:	  20 November 2014

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140006550 


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 Vietnam in early February 1967.  He was wounded while conducting a patrol near the Special Forces camp at Kham Duc.  The senior medic was present and treated him in the field.  No further treatment was required in the company and no report was sent.  He adds: 

	a.  During the month of February 1967, while assigned to 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and serving as a staff sergeant (SSG), he was involved in combat reconnaissance and ambush patrols, operating between the Special Forces Camp at Kham Duc, South Vietnam and the Laotian border.  His team was actually assigned to Command and Control Detachment, Forward Operation Base- 1 (FOB-1), Phu Bai, South Vietnam.  

	b.  During one of the patrols, in mid-month, he was wounded on the right shoulder when he was struck by grenade fragments.  He was treated in the field by Sergeant Major (SGM) (then Sergeant First Class) G---nt, a Special Forces Combat Medic.  He was the senior medical officer on the team.  He had enormous combat experience, having served as both an infantryman and medic during the Korean War and as a Special Forces Combat Medic in Laos and Vietnam.  He successfully removed the shrapnel and bandaged the wound.  It was a minor wound, striking the bone and not imbedding deeply in the flesh, and no further treatment was required.  There was no paperwork completed when they returned to the base camp and nothing more was done as they returned to Phu Bai within the next day or two.
	c.  At the time of the incident there was some question as to whether or not the shrapnel had come from a friendly or enemy thrown grenade.  He always assumed this was the reason there was no paperwork submitted at the time of the incident.  He has only recently become aware of the fact that this makes no difference in the award of a Purple Heart.  Other than the filing of appropriate paperwork this incident dearly meets all of the criteria for award of the Purple Heart as spelled out in Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards).  Unfortunately, SGM G---nt passed away a number of years ago and is not available for comment.  At this point he is merely trying to set the record straight.  He has been retired from the Army for more than 20 years.  He is no longer in the workforce and can seek no employment benefit by claiming points for a Purple Heart.  The award would simply complete the record.

3.  The applicant provides congressional correspondence and a statement from a retired medical officer. 

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 served on active duty in the Regular Army as an enlisted Soldier from 29 January 1962 to 29 April 1971 and as a commissioned officer from 30 April 1971 to 31 July 1992.  

3.  As an enlisted Soldier, he enlisted in the Regular Army on 29 January 1962 and held military occupational specialty 11F (Infantry Operations and Intelligence Specialist).  He served through multiple reenlistments in a variety of stateside or overseas assignments and he attained the rank/grade of sergeant first class (SFC)/E-7. 



4.  He reenlisted in the Regular Army on 11 February 1968.  He had served in Vietnam multiple times but for the purpose of his award, he served in Vietnam from on or about 25 January 1967 to 24 May 1968.  He was assigned to 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. 

5.  He was honorably discharged (as an enlisted Soldier) on 29 April 1971 to accept appointment as a commissioned officer.  His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) for the period of service (11 February 1968 to 29 April 1971) lists several valor and service awards but does not list the Purple Heart. 

6.  He was appointed as a commissioned officer and executed an oath of office on 30 April 1971.  He served in a variety of command and staff stateside and/or overseas assignments and he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel (LTC). 

7.  He retired on 31 July 1992 and he was placed on the Retired List in his retired rank of LTC on 1 August 1992.  He was credited with over 30 years of active service.  His DD Form 214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty) for this period of service (30 April 1971 to 31 July 1992) listed many valor awards (including the Silver Star and Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device) but not the Purple Heart. 

8.  He provides a statement, dated 29 January 2014, from a retired military primary care physician.  He states that he endorses the applicant's statement regarding the wound he suffered in Vietnam.  He had examined the wound and found it consistent with the history recorded on the applicant's statement.  He adds that the applicant's story of his injury is plausible and consistent with many similar stories he has heard from other Green Beret veterans from the Vietnam era. 

9.  Nothing in several typical sources shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or as a result of friendly fire:

	a.  His medical records, which would have validated the wound/injury as well as the need for treatment and documented any treatment received, are not available for review.

	b.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show a combat wound or injury.  Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), chapter 9, stated a brief description of wounds or injuries (including injury from gas) requiring medical treatment 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 that the date the wound or injury occurred would also be placed in item 40.

	c.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to him.

	d.  His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing.  This is a Microfiche Listing of Vietnam Era Casualties that is used to verify entitlement to the Purple Heart. 

	e.  His available personnel records do not contain an official Army message or a Western Union telegram notifying his next of kin of an injury or wound sustained in action.  This was the proper notification of injuries at the time.

	f.  His subsequent DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record) does not list the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

	g.  There is no indication in his commissioned officer records that he raised the Purple Heart as an issue of contention. 

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that 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

	a.  The regulation also provides for award of the Purple Heart to individuals wounded or killed as a result of “friendly fire” in the “heat of battle” as long as the “friendly” projectile or agent was released with the full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment.

	b.  Examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart are as follows:  injury caused by enemy bullet, shrapnel, or other projectile created by enemy action; injury caused by enemy placed mine or trap; injury caused by enemy released chemical, biological, or nuclear agent; injury caused by vehicle or aircraft accident resulting from enemy fire; and/or concussion injuries caused as a result of enemy generated explosions.


	c.  Examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not justify award of the Purple Heart are as follows:  frostbite or trench foot injuries; heat stroke; food poisoning not caused by enemy agents; chemical, biological, or nuclear agents not released by the enemy; battle fatigue; disease not directly caused by enemy agents; accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action; self-inflicted wounds, except when in the heat of battle and not involving gross negligence; post-traumatic stress disorders; and/or jump injuries not caused by enemy action.

11.  Army Regulation 15-185 (ABCMR) states the ABCMR begins its consideration of each case with the presumption of administrative regularity.  The applicant has the burden of proving an error or injustice by a preponderance of the evidence.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The criteria for the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify that 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 combat.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing, his contemporaneous DA Form 20 does not list a combat injury, his medical records are not available for review, and there is no indication anywhere of a combat injury.  

3.  The statement provided by the retired military physician is also noted.  However, it is not corroborated by any documentary evidence.  An injury that is consistent with similar injuries during the Vietnam era does not establish the source of the injury.  Neither does it establish if treatment was required. 

4.  The applicant's honorable service, multiple tours in Vietnam, and sincerity are not in question.  However, he failed to satisfy the requirements of the Purple Heart.  In the absence of additional documentation that conclusively shows he was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action or friendly fire and treated for those wounds, and that his treatment was made a matter of official records, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding him the Purple Heart in this case.





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)                                         AR20140006550





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140006550



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