MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:            15 December 1999                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR1999021330

	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. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Thomas N. Kuhn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Elizabeth Buchannon		Member	
	Mr. Mark D. Manning		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:  The Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  He received shrapnel wounds to the head in June or July 1969.  He was treated at a surgical hospital in Phu Bai, Vietnam.  The Purple Heart was not put on his DD Form 214.

In support of his request, he provides a copy of his DD Form 214 and a statement from a witness who contends that he was the applicant’s platoon leader in Vietnam.  The witness states that the applicant reported to his platoon after his (the applicant’s) release from the hospital where he was treated for a shrapnel wound to the head.  He also states that a helicopter he and the applicant were on crashed and the applicant injured his back.

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

He was inducted on 29 May 1968, received training as a light weapons infantryman and served in Vietnam, principally with the 101st Airborne Division.  He was retained in service 268 days for the convenience of the government and honorably separated to the USAR on 19 February 1971 in pay grade E-3.

His awards include the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry Unit Citation.

The applicant’s Military Personnel Records Jacket contains no evidence that he was wounded, injured or hospitalized while assigned in Vietnam between October 1968 and October 1969.

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

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

1.  The applicant has provided no direct evidence of his wounds or hospitalization while in Vietnam.  The witness statement supporting his request indicates that the applicant “reported to him (the platoon leader) after being released from the hospital where he was treated for shrapnel wounds”.  As is, the statement does not establish any direct evidence that the applicant had been treated for wounds that were received as a result of hostile action.

2.  Further, the witness states that the applicant was injured when the helicopter in which they were riding crashed.  As with the statement regarding the applicant’s shrapnel wounds, there is no independent corroborating evidence in the available records to show that the injury occurred.  In the absence of such evidence, there is no basis on which to award the Purple Heart

3.  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 has failed to submit evidence that would satisfy the this requirement.

4.  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

_tnk ____  __eb____  _mdm____  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999021330	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19991215	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.