BOARD DATE: 30 June 2015
DOCKET NUMBER: AR20150007018
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 based on his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
2. The applicant states he was never awarded the Purple Heart because he did not receive any physical injuries. However, he does have a diagnosis of PTSD which is currently rated at 70 percent [disabling by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)].
3. The applicant provides a medical statement.
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 31 March 1970 and he held military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman). He served in Vietnam while assigned as follows from:
* 12 - 28 November 1970, Student Detachment, 23rd Administrative Replacement Detachment
* 29 November 1970 - 24 June 1971, Company B, 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade
* 25 June 1971- 11 November 1971, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade
3. He was honorably released from active duty on 5 January 1972 and he was transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve. The DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) he was issued shows he completed 1 year, 7 months, and 16 days of total active service.
4. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank and a review of the Adjutant General's Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing failed to show his name as a casualty.
5. The applicant provides a statement, dated 17 March 2015, wherein a clinical psychologist with the VA Medical Center, Erie, PA, stated the applicant was under his care for the treatment of PTSD and had been since May 2012.
6. Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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. Examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart are injury caused by enemy bullet, shrapnel, or other projectile created by enemy action; injury caused by enemy-placed mine or trap; and concussion injuries caused as a result of enemy-generated explosions. Examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not justify award of the Purple Heart are frostbite or trench foot injuries, battle fatigue, accidental wounding not related to or caused by enemy action, and PTSD.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
The criteria for award of the Purple Heart require a Soldier to have been injured or wounded by hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record. While the applicant provides evidence that shows he has been treated for PTSD since May 2012, and even if his PTSD is related to his service in Vietnam, PTSD does not meet the criteria for award of the Purple Heart. Therefore, there is no basis for granting the applicant's requested relief.
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) AR20150007018
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