PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            5 August 1999     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999018553

	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. Wanda L. Waller		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Mark D. Manning		Chairperson	
	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Member	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		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 53 Air Medals and the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he flew 1338 combat flight hours and is entitled to 53 Air Medals.  He contends that he has orders for 27 Air Medals and has a certificate that shows 37 Air Medals.  He also contends that on 
15 December 1967, while serving as an aircraft commander of an UH-1C helicopter gunship, he was shot down by the enemy and injured his lower back.  In support of his application, he submits VA Form 21-4138 (Statement in Support of Claim) dated 17 August 1998, the first two pages of his DA Form 2-1 (Personnel Qualification Record), a copy of DA Form 759 (Individual Flight Record & Flight Certificate), citation for award of the Air Medal, certificate for award of the Air Medal (First thru Thirty-Seventh Oak Leaf Cluster), and orders for award of the Air Medal (First thru Twenty-Seventh Oak Leaf Cluster).  

4.  The American Legion, as counsel for the applicant, supports the applicant’s contentions.  Counsel noted the applicant’s Vietnam service as a helicopter pilot, his awards of the Silver Star and Air Medal with 27th Oak Leaf Cluster and the applicant’s contention that he received an injury to his back after being shot down by the enemy.

5.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted on 2 February 1966 for a period of 2 years.  He was honorably discharged on 13 March 1967 and appointed a Reserve warrant officer on 14 March 1967.  He served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam from 4 April 1967 through 30 March 1968 and as a rotary wing aviator in Vietnam from 8 January 1970 through 5 August 1971.  He was released from active duty with an honorable discharge in the rank of captain on 2 December 1974.    

6.  The applicant’s DD Forms 214, which were authenticated in his own hand, do not show 53 awards of the Air Medal or the Purple Heart as authorized awards.  The Board notes that the DD Form 214 with an effective date of 2 December 1972 shows the Air Medal (27th Oak Leaf Cluster).   

7.  There is no evidence in the applicant’s service personnel records that he was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action.   

8.  DA Form 759 (Individual Flight Record & Flight Certificate) for the period October 1984 – September 1985 shows the applicant had 1338 flight hours of combat time.

9.  U.S Army Vietnam (USARV) Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) provided, in pertinent part, guidelines for award of the Air Medal.  It established that passenger personnel who did not participate in an air assault were not eligible for the award based upon sustained operations.  It defined terms and provided guidelines for the award based upon the number and types of missions or hours.  Twenty five Category I missions (air assault and equally dangerous missions) and accrual of a minimum of 25 hours of flight time while engaged in Category I missions was the standard established for which sustained operations were deemed worthy of recognition by an award of the Air Medal.  However, the regulation was clear that these guidelines were considered only a departure point.  Nothing created an entitlement to the award.  There was no provision for making the award simply because an aircraft was struck by enemy fire.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) 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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Evidence of record shows the applicant flew 1338 combat flight hours.  Therefore, he is entitled correction of his military records to show 53 awards of the Air Medal.

2.  Notwithstanding the applicant’s contention that he was shot down by enemy fire and injured his lower back on 15 December 1967, there is no evidence available to the Board, and the applicant has provided no evidence, which supports this contention.  Therefore, he is not entitled to correction of his military records to show award of the Purple Heart.  

3.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, it would be appropriate to correct the applicant’s records, but only as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Air Medal with numeral “53”.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

MDM_____  AAO___  EWL____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Mark D. Manning_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999018553	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990805	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19741202	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 635-100	
DISCHARGE REASON	Relief from active duty	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0018	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.