PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            19 May 1999                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999015708

	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. Deborah L. Brantley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. John N. Slone		Chairperson	
	Mr. Robert G. Hinkle		Member	
	Mr. Roger W. Able		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.  He states he was wounded on 13 May 1967 while in Vietnam.

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active duty on 31 July 1965 and was assigned to Vietnam as a medical specialist in October 1966.  According to a Western Union Telegram and Army casualty report the applicant was wounded on 13 May 1967 as a result of hostile action.  The report notes he sustained multiple fragments to his left arm, right leg and left eye during an enemy mortar attack and was treated at the 2nd Surgical Hospital.

4.  The applicant returned to the United States in September 1967 and on 30 July 1968 was released from active duty.  There is no evidence he was ever awarded the Purple Heart but official at the Army Reserve Personnel Center authorized issuance of the decoration in 1988.

5.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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.  The evidence confirms the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action on 13 May 1967 while in Vietnam and as such is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  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 awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 13 May 1967 and correcting his separation document accordingly.

BOARD VOTE:  

___jns__  ___rgh__  __rwa___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999015708	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990519	
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.