IN THE CASE OF:
BOARD DATE: 17 September 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150001981
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.
2. The applicant states:
* he was offered the Purple Heart when he was injured during an enemy attack
* he was so hurt by the shrapnel that he remained in the field hospital in South Vietnam from 1968 to 1969
* he rejected the Purple Heart in the hospital
* there is no record of his Purple Heart qualification, but he knows he was offered the award
* the paperwork has been lost
* he would like to give the medal to his daughter
* there is no record of his injury, but he knows there has to be paperwork from his hospital stay
* he has been unable to locate his medical records
3. The applicant provides no additional evidence.
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 into the Army of the United States on 15 April 1968. He served as a light vehicle driver in Vietnam from 24 January 1969 to 21 January 1970.
3. Item 38 (Record of Assignments) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show he was a patient or hospitalized during his assignment in Vietnam.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 is blank and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.
5. On 23 January 1970, he was honorably released from active duty.
6. His DD Form 214 shows he was awarded or authorized the:
* National Defense Service Medal
* Expert Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-16)
* Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960)
* Vietnam Service Medal
* two overseas service bars
7. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in his available records.
8. His available service records do not contain his medical records.
9. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster.
10. A 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.
11. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that 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.
12. Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), in effect at the time, 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 the date the wound or injury occurred would also be entered in item 40.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The applicant contends he was injured by shrapnel during an enemy attack in Vietnam.
2. The evidence of record does not support his contention he was hospitalized in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. The evidence shows he arrived in Vietnam in January 1969 and his DA Form 20 does not show he was a patient or hospitalized during his assignment in Vietnam.
3. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for award of the Purple Heart and all other awards. The Purple Heart requires evidence to verify the wound was the result of hostile action, treatment of the wound by military medical personnel, and documentation of the wound in official records.
4. There is no evidence of record showing he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence in which to base awarding him the Purple Heart.
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 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.
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