PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:            7 July 1999                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999015067

	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	
	Mr. Kenneth Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Irene N. Wheelwright		Chairperson	
	Mr. James E. Anderholm		Member	
	Ms. Meta Waller		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 that his DD Form 214 and his records do not reflect this award.  He did not do anything [apply for the award] for 30 years until he made a claim for VA benefits. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he entered the Army on                10 February 1966, completed training, and in September was assigned to an armored battalion in Germany.  The applicant volunteered for duty in Vietnam and in October 1968 he was assigned to Company D of the 1st Squadron,        11th Armored Calvary Regiment in Vietnam, as an armored crewman (gunner).  In December of that year he was promoted to pay grade E-5.  He completed his tour in Vietnam, and returned to the United States at Oakland, California, and was released from active duty on 10 October 1969.  He had 3 years, 8 months, and 1 day of service.  His DD Form 214 shows that he was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.  It does not show award of the Purple Heart.    

5.  In a 1997 statement, a former comrade, who served with the applicant in Vietnam, stated that he served with the applicant from April to August 1969 in the same unit, and that he witnessed the injuries that the applicant suffered to his neck, hand, and ears, resulting from an explosion when the applicant’s tank ran over a land mine.  He stated that the incident occurred in late spring or early summer of 1969.    

6.  In a 15 July 1997 statement, another former comrade stated that he was aware that the applicant lost one tank to damage by enemy fire and two others to enemy mines; and that in one of the land mine explosions the applicant was thrown completely out of the tank commander’s cupola, landing on the back of the tank.  He stated that the applicant complained of a loss of hearing and neck and back pain and was taken to a nearby field hospital for treatment.  He returned several days later complaining of pain and ringing in his ears.  He also recalled that the applicant had problems with jungle rot and that their medic had him air lifted to Ben Hoa for treatment.  

7.  In a third statement from a former comrade, dated 10 October 1997, that individual stated that he was an aidman attached to the applicant’s unit and spent much of the time with the applicant and his tank crew.  During the months of April and May of 1969 they were often in combat and lost a of lot of friends.  He stated 

that he treated the applicant for injuries, and that he was thrown out of the hatch of his tank, landing on his head and shoulder, knocking him (the former aidman) off the back of the tank.  The cause was a land mine which completely disabled the tank.  He stated that he treated the applicant for strain to his neck, back, and shoulder, and that the applicant complained of a partial hearing loss and ringing in his ears that lasted for days.  He stated that the applicant was treated at a field hospital and returned to duty.  The incident occurred several days prior to         17 April 1969, the date of the death of a friend.  He went on to say that he remembers treating the applicant for a shrapnel wound to one of his legs, and that after both those incidents he submitted the appropriate papers so that the applicant would receive the Purple Heart.  Additionally, he stated that he treated the applicant for severe jungle rot, finally having him air lifted to a hospital for treatment. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant has no records to show that he was wounded in action or treated for a wound.  There are no orders awarding him the Purple Heart.  The evidence available are only the three aforementioned statements he submits with his application.  He himself does not provide any information concerning when and where he was wounded.  Nonetheless, the statements submitted on behalf of the applicant, while similar, in that all three attest to the applicant being wounded as a result of a land mine explosion, are sufficiently dissimilar and also somewhat vague in the details concerning the circumstances, to be credible.  One individual could not pinpoint the month in which the applicant was wounded, one only implies sometime during 1969, and the third, in April of that year.  Two individuals mentioned, as an afterthought, that the applicant also had jungle rot.  And two individuals (not the same two) comment on the fact that the applicant was present during action in which other comrades were killed.  A search of the   11th Armored Cavalry Regiment home site on the internet shows that all three of these individuals were assigned to the applicant’s unit during the time period in which the applicant was wounded.  

2.  The Board believes that the statements furnished on behalf of the applicant are true, and that the applicant was wounded in action, sometime in early April 1969.  Consequently, the applicant is entitled to award of the Purple Heart. 

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 applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for a wound received in action against an enemy of the United States in April 1969.

BOARD VOTE:  

___inw__  ___jea__  __mw____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999015067	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990707	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1. 107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.