IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 4 December 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140007753
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, in effect, award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states he recently had shrapnel removed from his left hand.
3. The applicant provides medical records from the Sheridan Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Sheridan, WY.
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's record shows he served in the Regular Army, as a land combat air defense systems maintenance chief and a recruiter, from 1 July 1971 until he was retired on 30 September 1991.
3. His DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record Part II) shows he deployed to Southwest Asia from 28 September 1990 through 19 April 1991.
4. His service medical records are not available for review; however, he provides a Surgical Pathology Report, released 27 February 2013, which states a foreign object compatible with shrapnel was removed from his left finger.
5. 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.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The evidence of record does not show and he has not provided evidence that shows he received wounds as a result of hostile action that required treatment by medical personnel. In the absence of such evidence, there is no basis for awarding him 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) AR20140007753
3
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140007753
2
ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
1
ARMY | BCMR | CY2009 | 20090003778
The rating decision states the applicant had been treated for a wound he sustained to his left knee in February 1969. The applicant was wounded a second time in the left knee, in February 1969. While the evidence shows he received treatment by medical personnel for a wound that he sustained to his left knee, there is no evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2011 | 20110001028
The applicant, on behalf of her deceased spouse, a former service member (FSM)), requests award of the Purple Heart and correction of his DD form 214 (Report of Separation from the Armed Forces of the United States) to show he was awarded the Purple Heart. The FSM's military record is not available to the Board for review. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by: a. awarding the FSM the Purple Heart for wounds...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2009 | 20090003882
The applicant states, in effect, that he should have been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds he received in Vietnam on 4 March and on 2 November 1968. The evidence does show the applicant complained of shrapnel in his chest; however, the medical records entry does not form a basis for award of the Purple Heart to him. The Standard Form 513 the applicant submitted to support his request for award of the Purple Heart for an injury he states he sustained on 2 November 1968 as a result of an...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2009 | 20090011156
The applicant states, in effect, that his brother's WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge) does not reflect the award of the Purple Heart or wounds received in action. The WD AGO Form 38 provided by the applicant shows that on 22 July 1946 the medical examining officer indicated in the Statement and Medical History of Examinee section of the form that the FSM reported a shrapnel wound to the forehead incurred on March 1945 in Germany. A review of...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2012 | 20120021132
The applicant, the son of a former service member (FSM), requests his father be awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received on or about 8 November 1968 in Vietnam. There is no evidence in the available records which show the FSM was awarded the Purple Heart or that he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. There is insufficient evidence in the available record that shows the FSM was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2013 | 20130002025
The applicant provides: * DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) * Department of the Army General Orders (DAGO) Number 13173 and certificate for award of the Bronze Star Medal with "V" Device CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against and enemy or as a result of hostile action. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2010 | 20100010579
At the time he was using a topical cream for scars due to keloids from shrapnel wound. The evidence which shows the applicant was wounded by shrapnel was dated almost 12 years after he was released from active duty. Unfortunately, the preponderance of the evidence fails to support the applicant's contention that he was wounded in Vietnam as a result of hostile action.
ARMY | BCMR | CY2008 | 20080007677
Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a result of hostile action. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The evidence of record shows that the applicant sustained shrapnel wound to his left leg in February 1945 during his service in WWII. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected awarding the applicant the Purple Heart for a wound...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2005 | 20050006107C070206
There is no evidence in the available records which shows that the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. In the absence of orders or other evidence of record showing that the applicant was injured or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action, the eyewitness statement provided by the applicant is not sufficient as a basis for award of the Purple Heart. Records show the applicant should have discovered the alleged error...
ARMY | BCMR | CY2009 | 20090003770
Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). He states that Executive Order 9277 states that the Purple Heart is to be awarded to persons who are wounded in action against an enemy of the United States, or as a result of an act of such enemy, provided such would necessitate treatment by a medical officer. The applicant was transferred from Vietnam on 13 April 1972 and he returned to the Continental United States.