PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           19 November 1998                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-11888

	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:

	Mr. Fred N. Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas A. Pagan		Member	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		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 (PH) 1st oak leaf cluster and correction of his DD Form 214 to add both his first and second PHs.

3.  The applicant states his first PH was not entered on his DD Form 214.  He was wounded for the second time on 29 May 1969 when the truck he was riding on hit a land mine.  He was thrown about 30 feet from the truck and checked over after the contact with the enemy.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted into the Army on  15 June 1967.  He arrived in Vietnam on 1 September 1968 where he served as a cannoneer.  He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 26 May 1969.  He departed Vietnam on or about 3 June 1969 and was released from active duty on 7 June 1969.

5.  The applicant’s medical records are not available and are apparently held by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Orders awarding the Purple Heart to the applicant were published after he was released from active duty.

2.  There is no evidence of record to substantiate the applicant’s claim of being wounded in action on 29 May 1969 or that he was treated by medical personnel for that injury.  The applicant only states that he was “checked over.”  

3.  The applicant should obtain his medical records from his servicing VA medical center for the period of time in question to verify his injury and treatment or obtain credible statements from individuals who could provide eyewitness accounts of his injury and his treatment by medical personnel.

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

RECOMMENDATION:
1.  That the DD Form 214 of the individual concerned be corrected by adding the Purple Heart.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

FNE____  TAP_____  BJE_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON