PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:        23 December 1998                      
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-08734
				    AR1998012270

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Member	
	Mr. Lester Echols		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests that his military records be corrected to reflect award of the Purple Heart.  He states he received the award after he was separated from active duty.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active duty on 
1 August 1968 and was assigned to Vietnam as a demolition’s specialist in January 1969.  He departed Vietnam in March 1970 and was released from active duty on 6 March 1970.  His DD Form 214 does not reflect entitlement to the Purple Heart.

4.  Subsequent to his separation, on 29 April 1971, the Office of the Adjutant General forwarded the applicant a copy of documents awarding him the Purple Heart.  The notification letter referenced General Orders 71, issued by the 79th Engineer Group on 19 September 1970 and included a Purple Heart certificate.  The Purple Heart certificate indicates the applicant was wounded on 3 July 1970. However, the date of the wound is clearly an error in view of the fact that the applicant was separated from the Army in March 1970.

5.  Attempts to obtain copies of the applicant’s service medical records or a copy of the orders issued by the 79th Engineer Group to verify the actual date of injury have been unsuccessful.

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds sustained 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence clearly indicates the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart after his separation from active duty.  It appears that a typographic error was made on the award certificate and in all likelihood the applicant was wounded on 3 July 1969 while he was in Vietnam.

2.  In spite of the obvious error the Board concludes that the applicant was in fact awarded the Purple Heart and as such is entitled to have the award reflected on his separation document.

3.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained as a result of hostile actions while in Vietnam.

BOARD VOTE:  

_rvo____  __kak___  __le_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON