PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           1 September 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999021568

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Stanley Kelley		Chairperson	
	Mr. James E. Anderholm		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth L. Wright		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 that the Purple Heart be added to his DD Form 214 and that his name on the award certificate be corrected.

3.  The applicant states that he had to go back to the field in Vietnam without a chance to correct his award certificate.  He includes a copy of his birth certificate as supporting evidence but not a copy of the award certificate.

4.    The applicant's military records show he enlisted in the Regular Army on    27 September 1967.  He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 70A (Clerk).  He arrived in Vietnam on 3 January 1969 where he served as a Lab Specialist, MOS 84G with Company C, 124th Signal Battalion, 4th Infantry Division.  (Career Management Field 84 is Public Affairs and Audio Visual.) 

5.  The applicant’s DA Form 20, Personnel Qualification Record, block 40 does not show that he was wounded and block 41 does not include the Purple Heart as an award.  However, the Total U. S. Army Personnel Command (PERSCOM) has verified that his name is on the Vietnam Casualty Roster as being wounded in action on 6 August 1969.

6.  The applicant returned from Vietnam on or about 11 September 1970 and separated on 17 February 1971.  The Purple Heart is not listed on his DD Form 214.  

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides policy, criteria and administrative instructions concerning individual military decorations.  In pertinent part, it states that the Purple Heart is awarded to any member of an Armed Force who has been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States.  The wound must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While there is no evidence in the applicant’s personnel records to show he was wounded or awarded the Purple Heart and he does not provide the certificate he refers to, PERSCOM has verified that he was wounded in action on 6 August 1969.

2.  In view of the foregoing, it would be in the interest of justice to correct the applicant’s records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

________  ________  ________  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

__sk____  __jea___  __klw___  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

CASE ID	AR1999021568	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990901	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.