PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           22 September 1999                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999024532

	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:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Mr. John P. Infante		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 records.

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded in the right hand and left leg by a booby trap in July of 1970.  Another soldier was killed by the same booby trap.  Word was sent to his folks that he was being sent to Japan and then home, but he was sent back to a security platoon in the rear.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted into the Army on 11 February 1969.  He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).  

5.  The applicant arrived in Vietnam on 14 August 1969.  He was assigned to 2d Battalion, 327th Infantry from 14 August 1969 through 23 May 1970 and to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division from 24 May through 10 September 1970.

6.  The evidence of record shows the applicant went on sick call on 27 June 1970 for swelling and pain in his right hand.  He was admitted to the 85th Evacuation Hospital on 28 June 1970.  There is no evidence of record to show when he was discharged from the hospital.  (A handwritten note on a 25 September 1992 response to the applicant’s Congressman indicates he was listed on a Vietnam casualty roster as “non-hostile wounded/ill/injured – 700629.”

7.  The applicant departed Vietnam on 11 September 1970.  He had been awarded the Army Commendation Medal on General Orders 7637, Headquarters, 101st Airborne Division dated 6 July 1970.  He was released from active duty on 15 September 1970 after completing 1 year, 7 months and 5 days of creditable active service with no lost time.  His conduct and efficiency ratings throughout his period of service were both rated as “excellent.”  The Army Commendation Medal is not listed on his DD Form 214.

8.  Army Regulation (AR) 600-8-22 provides policy and criteria 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.  When contemplating an award of the Purple Heart, the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury.  The fact that the proposed recipient was participating in direct or indirect combat operations is a necessary prerequisite, but is not sole justification for award.

9.  AR 600-8-22 also provides for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to a soldier who is an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, who is assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must actively participate in such ground combat.  It also provides that the Army Good Conduct Medal is awarded for each 3 years of continuous enlisted active Federal military service completed on or after            27 August 1940 and, for the first award only, upon termination of service on or after 27 June 1950 of less than 3 years but more than 1 year.  At the time, a soldier’s conduct and efficiency ratings must have been rated as “excellent” for the entire period of qualifying service 

10.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 shows that the 2d Battalion, 327th Infantry was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class for the period 18 May 1969 – 2 May 1970.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the evidence of record shows the applicant was injured and hospitalized, there is no evidence to show the injury was a result of enemy action; therefore, he is not entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The applicant was awarded the Army Commendation Medal but it was not entered on his DD Form 214.

3.  The applicant met the regulatory requirements for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge but there is no evidence of record to show they were awarded to him.

4.  The evidence of record also shows that the applicant was assigned to the 2d Battalion, 327th Infantry during a period of time the unit was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class.

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

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by:

     a.  showing the applicant was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal 1st award for the period 11 February 1969 – 15 September 1970; and

     b. adding the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class to the applicant’s DD Form 214.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__mkp___  __clg___  __jpi___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Margaret K. Patterson
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999024532	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	19990922	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0056	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.