IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 26 February 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140012204
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 reconsideration of his earlier request to correct his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states, in effect, he now provides medical evidence not available with his initial application.
3. The applicant provides:
* photograph of a Purple Heart
* two DA Forms 8-275-3 (Clinical Record Cover Sheet)
* Standard Form (SF) 502 (Narrative Summary)
* DD Form (form number cut off) titled Doctor's Orders (two pages)
* SF 539 (Clinical Record - Abbreviated Clinical Record)
* DD Form 640 (Nursing Notes)
* DD Form 214
CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:
1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20130018848, on 17 June 2014.
2. The applicant provides new evidence which warrants consideration by the Board.
3. The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 8 April 1969. He was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).
4. The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in:
a. Item 38 (Record of Assignments), he was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry (Vietnam), from 26 December 1969 through
10 November 1970.
b. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations), no listing for the Purple Heart.
c. Item 40 (Wounds) is blank.
5. On 14 November 1970, the applicant was honorably released from active duty. He completed 1 year, 7 months, and 7 days of total creditable active service. His DD Form 214 does now list the award of the Purple Heart.
6. Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.
7. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
8. Included in the medical records provided by the applicant is an SF 539 which states, in part, on 21 July 1970 the applicant was injured by a claymore mine explosion. A DA Form 8-275-3 shows line of duty (LD) "yes." The remaining medical documents confirm injuries to both of the applicant's eyes and his lower left leg. There is no clear statement whether the applicant's injuries occurred as a result of an accidental discharge of a claymore mine or from enemy action.
9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or 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.
10. Department of the Army Training Circular 3-22.23 (Field Manual 23-23) identifies the M18 (now M18A1) Anti-Personnel Mine (also known as the Claymore Mine) as a defensive weapon. It is a directional, fixed-fragmentation mine used against massed infantry attacks and light-armored vehicles. Vietnam-era anecdotal accounts by former Soldiers available in the public domain acknowledge the claymore mine was employed during Vietnam and that there were instances where captured claymore mines were used as booby traps by the enemy.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant provides clear evidence from his medical records showing he was wounded by a claymore mine while serving in Vietnam. Additionally, there is an entry stating his injuries were incurred in the line of duty. Absent, however, is any evidence his wounds were sustained as a result of action against an enemy or from hostile action, as required by the regulation.
2. For the Purple Heart to be awarded, the preponderance of the evidence must clearly show not only a wound's existence and that it was treated and recorded by medical personnel, but that it directly resulted from hostile action. Neither the record nor the evidence offered by the applicant fulfills this requirement. Unfortunately, the evidence does not exclude the possibility his injuries occurred accidently or as a result of friendly fire.
3. The applicant's contention and sincerity are not in question. However, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for awarding him the Purple Heart. Based upon the foregoing, the requested relief is unable to be granted.
BOARD VOTE:
________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF
________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING
____X___ ____X___ ____X___ DENY APPLICATION
BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:
1. 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20130018848, dated 17 June 2014.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to our Nation. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.
_______ _ 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) AR20140012204
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140012204
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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS
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