IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 4 December 2014
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140008415
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 correction of his record to show award of the Purple Heart for injuries he received in Vietnam.
2. He states:
* he did not know that he had been injured until he had a computed tomography scan in 2004
* at the time of his injury a piece of metal entered into his abdomen
* he did not feel it and the heat from the metal cauterized the wound
* it (the metal) came from a mortar attack
3. He submitted a result review report.
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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 1 August 1966.
3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
a. item 31 (Foreign Service) he served in Vietnam from 1 April 1968 to
31 March 1969;
b. item 38 (Record of Assignments) he was assigned to Company C, 86th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne) from 6 April 1968 to 28 March 1969;
c. item 40 (Wounds) is blank; and
d. item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not list award of the Purple Heart.
4. On 1 April 1969, he was honorably released from active duty. He had completed 2 years, 8 months, and 1 day of total active service. His DD Form 214 shows he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960).
5. Review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not list the applicant as a casualty.
6. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, 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 the applicant.
7. There are no medical records in his official military personnel file that show he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.
8. He submitted a Results Review Report, dated 21 January 2004, wherein he highlighted that the report indicated that he had a linear calcific or metallic density measuring about 1 centimeter in length present in the anterior subcutaneous tissues slightly protruding into the right rectus abdominis muscle at the level of the distal stomach.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides the Army's awards policy. It states the Purple Heart is awarded to members wounded in action and states that in order to award the Purple Heart, there must be evidence the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, the wound required treatment by military medical personnel, and a record of the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant's request for award of the Purple Heart has been carefully considered and it was determined that there is insufficient evidence to support his request.
2. There is no corroborating evidence of record which shows he was injured or wounded as a result of enemy action, that the wound required medical treatment, and the treatment was made a matter of official record. The applicant's name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing or in ADCARS. There is no evidence in his service personnel records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds.
3. Treatment of the wound and a record of that treatment is required, and the applicant acknowledges that he did not even know at the time that he had been injured.
4. 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 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) AR20140008415
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140008415
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