PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:            9 December 1998 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-12066

	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.	Deyon D. Battle		Analyst	

	The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms.	June Hajjar		Chairperson	
	Mr.	Fred N. Eichorn		Member	
	Mr.	Thomas B. Redfern, III		Member	

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

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	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 Report of Transfer or Discharge (DD Form 214) be corrected to reflect his awards of the Purple Heart and the Silver Star, and that he be provided orders for those awards.

3.  The applicant states that he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star, however, they are not reflected on his DD Form 214 and he does not have copies of orders awarding him those medals. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that on 30 June 1966, he enlisted in the Army in the pay grade of E-1 for 3 years and he successfully completed his training as a light weapons infantryman.

5.  A review of his records reveal that on 10 April 1968, while serving in the rank of SP4, the applicant was wounded while in the Republic of Vietnam.  He received shrapnel in his right hip and right forearm.  He was hospitalized and treated for his injuries. 

6.  Further review of the applicant’s records fails to show that orders were ever prepared awarding him the Purple Heart or the Silver Star.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the primary requirement for award of a decoration is that a formal recommendation be prepared and introduced into official military channels within 2 years of the act, achievement, or service to be recognized.  The sole exception to the 2-year time limit occurs when there is conclusive evidence that a formal recommendation was submitted but was lost, or through inadvertence was never acted on by proper authority.

8.  That regulation also provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained as a direct 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.  There is no evidence of record, nor has the applicant submitted any evidence to support his contention that he was issued or entitled to the award of the Silver Star.

2.  However, the record does show that he sustained shrapnel wounds to his right hip and forearm while he was in the Republic of Vietnam.  His wounds required hospitalization and it is reasonable to presume that those injuries were as a direct result of hostile action. 

3.  Although there is no evidence that orders were ever prepared, it is believed that he is entitled to the award of the Purple Heart and his DD Form 214 should be amended accordingly.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by amending the DD Form 214 of the individual concerned to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat in Vietnam on 10 April 1968.

2.  That so much of the application as is in excess of the foregoing be denied.

BOARD VOTE:  

___jh____  __fe____  ___tbr___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON