IN THE CASE OF:  

		BOARD DATE:  29 September 2015

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20150003498 


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 for award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant states award of the Purple Heart will not increase his disability because he is already rated as 100% disabled.  It is just a medal he feels he is entitled to and would like to have it.  

	a.  On or about 16 December 1968, at Cu Chi, South Vietnam, his unit came under heavy mortar fire.  He remembers running to his bunker, and the next thing he knew he was in the hospital.  He was there for some time and then was sent to another hospital by helicopter.  He was there for a couple weeks and then he was medically evacuated to Tokyo, Japan.  He was there for about a month.  He was doing well until there were complications and he was medically evacuated to the hospital at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he spent a couple of months. 

	b.  He does not know what happened to the medical records from the attack in Vietnam.  He does remember seeing something in his records in Japan saying, "No Combat Duty."  

	c.  He has a scar running from his sternum to his spine, which wasn't there when he went to Vietnam and one from his sternum to his "belly button."

	d.  He would really appreciate reconsideration of his request for the Purple Heart.  
3.  The applicant provides a copy of the ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20140001391.

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 AR200140001391 on 2 September 2014.

2.  The applicant provides a new argument which constitutes new evidence and warrants consideration by the Board.

3.  The applicant was inducted on 25 October 1966 and he was honorably discharged on 27 October 1966 for the purpose of enlistment in the Regular Army (RA).  He enlisted in the RA on 28 October 1966 and he served in military occupational specialties (MOS) 91A (ambulance driver) and 91S (preventive medicine specialist). 

3.  He served in Vietnam from 13 July 1967 through 8 March 1968.  

5.  On 27 October 1969, he was honorably released from active duty.  His
DD Form 214 shows he was credited with completing 3 years of net active service and he was awarded or authorized the following awards and decorations:

* National Defense Service Medal
* Army Good Conduct Medal (1st Award)
* Vietnam Service Medal
* Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device (1960)

6.  His records contain orders showing he was released from the U. S. Army, Vietnam (USARV) Patient Casual Company and assigned to the Medical Hold Detachment, U.S. Army Hospital, Camp Zama, Japan, with a reporting date of 14 January 1968.  

7.  His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows the following:

	a.  Item 38 (Record of Assignments) he was assigned to the Medical Holding Company, Womack Army Hospital, Fort Bragg, NC, in a patient status, from 
2 March through 26 March 1968.  On 2 April 1968, he was assigned to Dunham Army Hospital, Carlisle Barracks, PA, in MOS 91S.

	b.  Item 40 (Wounds) is blank, indicating he had no recorded wounds at any time during his active duty service.
	
   c.  Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) he was awarded or authorized the awards shown on his DD Form 214 and additionally the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar and one overseas service bar.

8.  His complete medical records are not available for review; however, the available records contain the following:

   a.  A Standard Form (SF) 88 (Report of Medical Examination) and SF 89 (Report of Medical History), which show he underwent a physical examination for the purpose of his expiration of term of service on 14 August 1969 and was found qualified for separation.  He indicated on the SF 89 that his health was good.  The forms did not indicate he had sustained a wound/injury during his period of service in Vietnam.

	b.  A DA Form 3082-R (Statement of Medical Condition), dated 2 October 1968, wherein he stated that there had been no change in his medical condition.

   c.  A DA Form 1811 (Physical and Mental Status on Release from Active Duty), dated 2 October 1969, which stated that his physical condition on 14 August 1969 was such that he was considered physically qualified for separation or for reenlistment.

9.  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 Military Awards Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for award of the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

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.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant's new argument was considered; however, the criteria for an award of 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 treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

2.  There is no available record showing the cause of the wound or injury that resulted in his hospitalization and evacuation.  Absent this evidence there is an insufficient basis for 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 that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20140001391, dated 2 September 2014.



      ___________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)                                         AR20140010123



3


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1

ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20150003498



4


ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


1