IN THE CASE OF:	   

		BOARD DATE:	  12 May 2015

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20140015994 


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, through his Member of Congress, award of the Purple Heart.  

2.  The applicant states he and his crew hit a landmine while driving a combat-loaded 60-ton recovery vehicle on a search and destroy mission with the 25th Infantry Division.  He was the only member with an injury.  His injury was a delayed injury at the time.  Everybody thought he was in trouble and the pain in his head was unbearable.  He took as many pain pills as he could.  They took him back to Chu Chi and he had a hole in his ear.  Nobody can find any records and the people he wrote to could not find any.  He began having x-rays in Lexington in the early 1980s and the fluids had already come through because the spleen was displaced and formed around the bottom of his left lung.  The doctor told him to keep an eye on things.  The doctor is pretty sure the cause of the fluids was that landmine, but he cannot say for sure.  There was nothing ever written up and no morning reports, but he has statements. 

3.  The applicant provides:

* DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge)
* Congressional correspondence
* DA Form 1 (Morning Report)
* Standard Form 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care)
* Letter from the National Personnel Records Center
* A photograph and three letters
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 service records for his Regular Army service from May 1965 to February 1967 are not available for review with this case.  An extensive search was conducted to locate his records but they could not be found.  However, there were sufficient documents provided by the applicant and other reconstructed records for the Board to conduct a fair and impartial review of his case.

3.  The applicant's available records show he was inducted into the Army of the United States on 25 May 1965.  He appears to have been trained in and held military occupational specialty 63C (Wheeled/Track Vehicle Mechanic). 

4.  His U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record), which was created during his service in the USAR from September 1977 to October 1996, shows he served in Hawaii from 27 December 1965 to 9 March 1966 and in Vietnam from 12 April 1966 to 7 February 1967. 

5.  His service record contains very little documentation pertaining to his active duty service.  However, it appears he completed 1 year, 1 month, and 5 days of foreign service.  It also appears he was assigned or attached to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT), 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. 

6.  He was honorably released from active duty on 5 February 1967 and he was transferred to the USAR Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his service remaining requirements.  His DD Form 214 shows he completed 1 year, 8 months, and 11 days of active service, and he was awarded or authorized the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar.

7.  There is no documentary evidence that shows the applicant was injured or wounded as a result of hostile action or that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  Nothing in several typical sources shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action.

	a.  His medical records, which would have listed any injuries and treatment, are not available for review with this case.  He provides a Standard Form 600 dated 8, 9, and 19 June 1966.  This form shows he was seen at the 4th Cavalry dispensary for an ear ache and/or ear pain.  His ear was cleaned and he was provided medication and instructed to keep the ear clean. 

	b.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record), which would have listed any combat wound or injury in item 40 (Wounds), is not available for review with this case.  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.  His 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 procedure for injuries at the time.

	d.  His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing.  This is a listing of Vietnam era casualties commonly used to verify entitlement to award of the Purple Heart.

	e.  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 the applicant.

8.  On 2 February 2012, by letter, the Chief, Awards and Decorations Branch, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, informed a Member of Congress that there was insufficient documentation available to substantiate an award of the Purple Heart for the applicant.  HRC had reviewed historical casualty records for the Vietnam era but did not find his name among the battle casualties.  

9.  He provides: 

	a.  A DA Form 1 (Morning Report), dated on an illegible date and pertained to HHT, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry.  This form shows he was on sick call at the 25th Medical Battalion.  This form also shows that on 24 June 1966 elements of the troop transportation section and elements from the squadron maintenance section participated in combat operations. 

	b.  A letter, dated 16 May 2012, from the National Personnel Records Center informing him that there were morning reports for his unit.    

	c.  A letter, dated 15 September 2013, from an individual who was present when they were hit by a landmine during combat operations in Vietnam in 1966.  He was an assistant driver that day in the rigger's seat and the landmine hit the driver's side.  

	d.  A letter, dated 1 February 2014, from the applicant to an individual requesting his assistance with the Purple Heart.   He recalls his ear pain in June 1966 and how he went to the dispensary complaining of pain.  He states that "he told the doctor they were hit by a landmine" and felt the top of his head was going to explode.  The doctor "made no mention of the landmine on his report."  He (the applicant) asks the individual addressed in the letter to help his case. 

	e.  A letter, dated 29 August 2011, from an individual to the Department of Veterans Affairs regarding the Purple Heart.  The individual restates similar circumstances regarding what occurred in June 1966.  He indicated that the Purple Heart was overlooked.  

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.  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




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 is not available for review with this case, his medical records are not available for review, and there is no indication anywhere of a combat injury.  These are typical sources to verify eligibility for this award. 

3.  The applicant has not met the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.  There is no record clearly indicating an injury by the enemy or showing treatment by medical personnel of such an injury.

	a.  Other than being wounded or injured by the enemy, the member’s wound must be treated by a military or a military certified medical person at the time or shortly after the injury.  Here, there is no record of any treatment indicating it was for an injury incurred as a result of hostile action.  Furthermore, by his own (and one of the author's) admission, a record of his alleged injury being attributed to combat was never made.   

	b.  The statements provided are noted.  However, they are not corroborated by any documentary evidence.  For example, the authors neither proved a landmine incident occurred nor did they confirm the source of this landmine.  Statements from eye witnesses carry weight and are factored in.  Here, these statements are based on memory of events that took place some 50 years ago and are not corroborated by documentary evidence such as an after action report, morning report, casualty reports, or any other documents.  

4.  The applicant's honorable service, Vietnam service, 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 and treated for those wounds, and that his treatment was made a matter of official record, 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)                                         AR20140015994





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20140015994



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