IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 4 June 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20140017059
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 that he be awarded an additional award of the Purple Heart.
2. The applicant states that he should have been issued a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained to the eyes during a training exercise at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He goes on to state that he already had two awards of the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in combat and he is receiving Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) compensation for his eye injury.
3. The applicant provides a copy of his VA Rating Decision.
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 was inducted on 12 June 1968. He completed his basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana and his advanced individual training as a cannoneer at Fort Sill, Oklahoma before being transferred to Vietnam on 5 December 1968.
3. On 26 April 1969, the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart on the USS Sanctuary for wounds received at Camp Red Devil on 24 April 1969.
4. He departed Vietnam on 4 December 1969 for assignment to Fort Sill, where he remained until he was honorably released from active duty (REFRAD) on
11 June 1970. He had served 2 years of active service and his DD Form 214 issued at the time of his REFRAD shows that he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Purple Heart, and Army Commendation Medal.
5. A review was conducted of his official records which failed to reveal any evidence showing he was awarded more than one Purple Heat or that he was wounded more than once.
6. 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:
1. While the sincerity of the applicants claim that he was injured in training accident at Fort Sill is not in doubt, injuries incurred during training exercises do not meet the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.
2. Therefore, in the absence of sufficient evidence to show that he was wounded as a result of enemy action and that medical treatment was made a matter of official record, there appears to be no basis to grant his request at this time.
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 for correction of the records of the individual concerned.
2. The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during the Vietnam War. 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) AR20140017059
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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20140017059
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