MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:           10 March 1999           
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-12031
                                              AR1998013574

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

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mr. Richard H. Allen		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Frank K. McCoy		Chairperson	
	Mr. Meta Waller		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth L. Wright		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	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)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  In effect, award of the Purple Heart (PH) for injuries he received in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in 1968.

APPLICANT STATES:  In essence, that the vehicle in which he was riding in the RVN hit a land mine and his back (and/or neck) was injured.  He spent approximately 3 weeks in the hospital, and then was returned to duty with his unit.  He states that he was told that he was being recommended for the award, but that it might not get into his records before the was separated from active duty.  He thought the award was on his records.   

COUNSEL CONTENDS:  Counsel has provided no further information, but fully supports the applicant’s request.  

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show:

He had 3 years prior honorable service in the Regular Army from June 
1960 through June 1963.  He served as a Military Policeman and the highest rank he attained was private first class, pay grade E-3.

On 11 May 1965, he reenlisted in the Regular Army, for 3 years, in pay grade E-2, as a Military Policeman.  He was assigned to Korea in June 1965 and served initially as a Military Policeman, then was reclassified as a Supply Clerk in January 1966.  He returned to the United States (Hawaii) in July 1966 and then was assigned to the RVN in August 1967 with duties as an Infantryman with an Armored Cavalry unit.  

He was reassigned back to the United States in early July 1968 and was honorably discharged, in pay grade E-3, on 6 July 1968.  His awards and decorations on his DD Form 214 (Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows the award of National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the RVN Campaign Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.  No mention is made of the award of a PH and there are no entries on his personnel qualification record or elsewhere in his Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) that he was ever wounded or that he ever underwent any period of hospitalization in early 1968.  

In response to inquiries from the applicant’s United States Senators in June 1991 and August 1997, the US Army Reserve Personnel Center (ARPERCEN) conducted extensive searches of Army casualty and personnel awards files for the period January through March 1968 and could find no evidence that the applicant was ever wounded, received hospitalization, medical treatment or was awarded the PH for combat action while assigned to B Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, the unit to which the applicant was assigned.  Further, the only morning report entry that could be found concerning the applicant during this time-frame was an entry showing his return from a 7-day Rest and Recuperation (R&R) period of Temporary Duty in Singapore, Malaysia, in the latter half of January 1968.  

In response to a complaint to a local newspaper in 1973, an adjudication officer with the Veterans Administration (VA) responded to the newspaper editor that the applicant was receiving compensation for a stomach condition.  However, the VA stated that a decision was made to deny the applicant any disability rating for a back condition.  The VA stated that it had determined that the applicant’s back condition was not incurred in or aggravated by service.  This decision had been affirmed by the Board of Veteran Appeals in December 1970.  Only with the submission of new or material evidence of service compensation for his back condition would an appeal be considered.  The applicant has provided no evidence that he has been rated by the VA since 1970 with a service-connected back condition.  

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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

U.S Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provided, in pertinent part, for award of the Purple Heart.  The regulation stated that authority to award the Purple Heart was delegated to hospital commanders. Further, it directed that all personnel treated and released within 24 hours will be awarded the Purple Heart by the organization to which the individual is assigned. Personnel requiring hospitalization in excess of 24 hours or evacuation from Vietnam will be awarded the Purple Heart directly by the hospital commander rendering treatment.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulation, it is concluded:

1.  In order to justify correction of a military record the applicant must show to the satisfaction of the Board, or it must otherwise satisfactorily appear, that the record is in error or unjust.  The applicant, in this case, has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy the aforementioned requirement.

2.  The applicant’s records fail to reveal any evidence that he was wounded by combat action while in the RVN or received medical treatment for any such wounds.

3.  The regulations in effect in 1968 authorized hospital commanders to award the PH if a soldier was hospitalized for more than 24 hours for a combat wound.  There is no evidence that the applicant ever received this award for any period of hospitalization to which he might have been admitted while in the RVN.

4.  A thorough search by Army officials in 1991 and 1997, to include medical and casualty records, could find no substantiating evidence that the applicant was entitled to the award of PH for combat injuries received in the first quarter of 1968. Further, as far back as 1970, the VA denied the applicant service connection or aggravation for any back injuries.

5.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_MW____  _KLW___  _FKM___  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

INDEX

CASE ID	AC98-12031/AR1998013574	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990310	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY	Director	
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.