MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:            10 March 1999     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999022275

	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. Kenneth Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred K. McCoy		Chairperson	
	Ms. Meta Waller		Member	
	Mr. Kenneth L. Wright		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:  Award of the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  That his bilateral hearing loss was caused by a head injury he suffered while on combat patrol in March or April 1966 while assigned as a team leader with the 2nd squad, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam.  He was able to walk out of the area of operations and was not medically evacuated.  He was later sent to a field hospital, returned to base camp and again sent to a field hospital.  However, he continued as a fire team leader, but was passed over for promotion because of his medical condition.  He was finally transferred to the 54th Signal Battalion and performed courier duties, among others.  He was informed that he had been recommended for not only the Purple Heart, but the Bronze Star with “V” for saving the life of a fellow soldier.

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

The applicant enlisted in the Army for three years on 4 June 1963.  In the report of physical examination dated 3 June, the examining physician stated that the applicant had a running right ear in 1957 and was evaluated to determine if there was a right tympanic membrane (middle ear) disorder.  He was determined to have tympano sclerotic plaque bilaterally. His tympanic membranes were intact with no perforation.  He was medically fit for enlistment.

He completed training and in 1963 was assigned to an infantry unit in Germany.  On 10 August 1965 he was promoted to Sergeant E-5.  He was discharged on  22 November 1965, reenlisting for three years the next day for assignment to Vietnam.  In February 1966 he was assigned as a fire team leader to the aforementioned infantry battalion in Vietnam.  He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge on 22 April 1966.

On 11 August 1966 he requested reclassification out of his infantry MOS (military occupational specialty).  A personnel data sheet indicates a physical profile series of 1 1 1 1 3 1 1, as of 9 March 1966.  A 13 August 1966 document recommended that the applicant, now reclassified in MOS 84B40 (still photographer), be reassigned to a unit where his physical condition not be aggravated.  He was assigned to the 54th Signal Battalion in September.  In February 1967 he returned to the United States and was assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado, thence to Fort Holabird, Maryland, for training, and then to  Fort Carson, Colorado in November of that year.  

An 11 July 1968 clinical record shows that the applicant was admitted to the hospital at Fort Carson on 23 June and discharged from that hospital on 
3 July 1968.  That record indicated that the applicant remembered having had ear infections as a child, but did not notice a hearing loss until he was exposed to gunfire in basic training.  He continued to experience a decrease in hearing, especially since his repeated exposure to a hand grenade explosion in Vietnam during February 1966.  He had an operation on his ear, an exploratory tympanotomy, left, with myringoplasty was performed, on the day following his admission to the hospital.  His condition was diagnosed as adhesions, acquired middle ear (bone), left, secondary to hold chronic ear infections, existed prior to service (EPTS), and deafness, conductive, left, secondary to the first diagnosis, EPTS.

A 21 October 1968 report of medical examination indicates that the applicant was medically qualified for separation with a physical profile of 1 1 1 3 1 1.  In the report of medical history he furnished for the examination, the applicant stated that his health was good.  He did state that he had an ear operation, but did not indicate that he had been wounded or treated for a wound.

He was released from active duty on 22 November 1968.  He had 5 years, 
5 months and 19 days of service.  His DD Form 214 does not show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.  His enlisted qualification record does not indicate award of the Purple Heart, nor does it show that he was wounded in action.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides 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.

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 clearly had problems with his ears, resulting in his reclassification out of his infantry MOS and reassignment from his infantry unit in Vietnam.  Nonetheless, he has not shown nor is there any evidence to indicate that his ear problems resulted from his being wounded in action.  There is simply no medical information to substantiate that he was wounded.  Consequently, the applicant is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  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

__fkm___  ___mw___  ___klw__  DENY APPLICATION

						Loren G. Harrell
						Director

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999022275	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990310	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(NC, GRANT , DENY, GRANT PLUS)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.107.00		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.