IN THE CASE OF:  	  

		BOARD DATE:  16 April 2015	  

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140015596 


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 
* correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show his military occupational specialty (MOS) as something other than 57E (Laundry, Bath and Impregnation Specialist) and to show the Purple Heart

2.  The applicant states he was in a bunker on guard duty [in Vietnam] when enemy mortar fire hit the bunker and it collapsed on them.  He was told he would receive a Purple Heart for his injuries.  His MOS is wrong [on his DD Form 214]; he was a supply handler.

3.  The applicant provides a DA Form 8-275-3 (Clinical Record Cover Sheet) and statement of support.

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 enlisted in the Regular Army on 17 September 1965.  He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and he was awarded MOS 57A (Duty Soldier).  He served in Vietnam while assigned as follows from:

* 26 November 1966 to 20 February 1967, 483rd Field Service Company
* 21 February to 2 November 1967, 228th Supply and Service (S&S) Company 

3.  Special Orders (SO) Number 261, dated 18 September 1967, issued by U.S. Army Support Command, Saigon, awarded him MOS 57E and withdrew MOS 57A.

4.  He provides a DA Form 8-275-3, dated 9 March 1967, wherein it shows on 8 March 1967 he was admitted to the 45th Surgical Hospital, Vietnam, and he was released for duty on 9 March 1967.  This form shows he suffered blunt trauma to his lower right chest with no artery or nerve involvement.  The treating physician stated the applicant was in a bunker when it caved in on him at about 0300 hours at Trai Bi on 8 March 1967.

5.  He was honorably released from active duty on 16 September 1968 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve.  The DD Form 214 he was issued does not show award of the Purple Heart.  Item 23a (Specialty Number & Title) of his DD Form 214 shows his MOS as 57E.

6.  His record is void of orders showing award of the Purple Heart.  Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart.

7.  Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing failed to show the applicant's name as a casualty.

8.  Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System maintained by the Military Awards Branch of 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 orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

9.  The applicant provides a statement of support, dated 19 July 2010, wherein Mr. ABN stated he was the company clerk for 228th S&S Company, Vietnam, from 20 July 1966 to 10 May 1967 and could vouch that the applicant was initially attached to the company in support of operations in and around Trai Bi and that personnel would not be quartered in a bunker at 0300 hours unless under hostile attack of one sort or another.  To the best of his recollection after 43 years have elapsed, the incident was not reported to the 228th S&S Company orderly room. He was on rest and recuperation leave in Japan from about 12 to 19 March 1967 and upon returning to the company he would have caught up with the morning report entries for the week he was gone.  It may have been reported to other companies.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, 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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The criteria for award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify a Soldier received a wound/injury as a result of hostile action, the wound/injury required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  

2.  Notwithstanding the applicant's sincerity and although he provided evidence that shows he was injured in Vietnam when a bunker collapsed on him and he was treated for those injuries, the DA Form 8-275-3 he provided does not show that he was injured as a result of hostile action.  His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster and his DA Form 20 does not indicate he received a combat-related wound.  In the absence of conclusive evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action and treated for those wounds, regrettably, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis upon which to award the Purple Heart.

3.  With respect to his MOS, his record shows SO awarded him MOS 57E on 18 September 1967.  This is the MOS he held at the time of his release from active duty and is correctly shown on his DD Form 214.  Therefore, he is not entitled to the requested relief.

4.  The applicant and all others concerned should know that 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.

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)                                         AR20140015596



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140015596



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