PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            30 September 1998                                     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-10674

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos .		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Irene N. Wheelwright		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. James M. Alward		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 award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states he was wounded in action on 20 December 1970 while in Vietnam.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 3 February 1965.  He served in Vietnam from 23 June 1965 - 22 June 1966.  He arrived for his second tour in Vietnam on 20 July 1970 where his Personnel Qualification Record shows he was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, reassigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Brigade 101st Airborne Division on 25 August 1970, and that he worked as a 36K40, Section Sergeant/Field Wireman in both units.  Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) orders are on file showing he was awarded the CIB on 1 February 1971 while holding military occupational specialty 11F.  He departed Vietnam on 1 May 1971 and was honorably discharged on 11 May 1973.

5.  The applicant provides a statement from a former platoon leader who states that on 20 December 1970, while on a reconnaissance patrol, his patrol was ambushed.  During the subsequent fire fight, the applicant and others were wounded by shrapnel from a grenade explosion.  He personally witnessed the platoon medic “patching up” the applicant.  Because there were too many more serious casualties to evacuate and because the mission still had to be completed, he did not bother to check if the medic filed any paperwork on the applicant’s wound.  

6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound 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.

7.  The statements of individuals are normally inadequate as the sole basis for an award of the Purple Heart because they do not fulfill the regulatory requirement that there be a record of medical treatment.  However, in this case, the supporting statement from his former platoon leader is credible evidence that the applicant did in fact receive the wounds claimed and was treated by competent battlefield medical personnel.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 also provides for the award of the Army Good Conduct Medal for each 3 years completed on or after 27 August 1940 when the soldier’s character has been above reproach.  At the time, this meant that he received conduct and efficiency ratings no lower than “excellent.”
CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Although the Personnel Qualification Record shows the applicant served in Vietnam as a 36K, he was awarded the CIB and the CIB orders show that at least at one time he held a combat arms/infantry military occupational specialty.

2.  That fact makes the former platoon leader’s statement that he was wounded while on a reconnaissance patrol believable.  The platoon leader provides a plausible explanation as to why the applicant’s wound was not made a matter of medical record.

3.  The applicant’s Personnel Qualification Record shows all his conduct and efficiency ratings as “excellent,” thereby qualifying him for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal.

4. In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart on                20 December 1970 and the Army Good Conduct Medal for the periods               3 February 1965 - 2 February 1968 and 3 February 1968 - 2 February 1971     (2d award).

2.  That the applicant’s DD Form 214 for the period ending 16 November 1972 be corrected by deleting the VSM and by adding the VSM with 4 bronze service stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with device 1960, the Army Good Conduct Medal (2d award) and the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON