MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            10 May 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000036540

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Joseph A. Adriance 		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson		Chairperson	
	Mr. George D. Paxson		Member	
	Mr. Thomas B. Redfern, III		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:  In effect, that he be awarded the Purple Heart (PH) and that it be added to his records. 

APPLICANT STATES:  In effect, that he was wounded in action in Cambodia in May 1970.  He claims that he was actually hit with shrapnel on two separate occasions which resulted in wounds to his shoulder and back.  He also indicates that his company commander put him in for the PH but for some reason the paperwork got lost, which was not uncommon there.  In support of his application, the applicant has provided the enclosed extended statement explaining his case and a Rating Decision document from the VA.

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

On 17 September 1969, he was inducted into the Army of the United States (AUS) for 2 years.  He successfully completed basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and advanced individual training (AIT) at Fort Gordon, Georgia.  Upon completion of AIT he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 11B (Infantryman) and he was assigned to overseas combat duty in Vietnam for his first permanent duty station.

He arrived in Vietnam in April 1970, and was assigned for duty as a rifleman with the 1st Calvary Division.  He was promoted to specialist/E-4, which is the highest rank he attained while on active duty, on 1 December 1970.  He served with this unit until he departed Vietnam for Fort Benning, Georgia, in May 1971.  He served at Fort Benning until he was separated in September 1971.  

On 2 September 1971, the applicant was honorably released from active duty after completing 1 year, 11 months, and 20 days of active military service.  At the time of his separation he was issued and signed a properly constituted DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge). 

The DD Form 214 on file revealed in block 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations, and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) that he had received the following awards during this tenure on active duty: the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with/2 Bronze Service Stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal/with 60 device; the Good Conduct Medal; the Combat Infantryman Badge; two Army Commendation Medals; the Air Medal; and the Bronze Star Medal.  There is no reference to a PH anywhere on this document.

There is also a DA Form 2-1 (Qualification Record) on file.  This form also contains no evidence, in either block 40 (Wounds) or block 41 (Awards and Decorations), that the applicant was either wounded in action or that he was awarded the PH.  The Military Personnel Records Jacket (MPRJ), likewise contains no orders or other documents that show either of these incidents occurred or that the applicant had been recommended for a PH by his company commander during his tour in Vietnam. 

On 21 October 1999, the Winston-Salem Regional Office of the VA published a Rating Decision Document.  This document served to deny the applicant’s request to reopen a an earlier claim for service connection for shell fragments wounds.  The basis for the VA denial was that the evidence submitted by the applicant was not new or material, given it had already be reviewed and addressed with the original claim.  This document did include a comment that states that the applicant’s statement was accepted as credible evidence of the fact that he was wounded.  In addition, a VA examiner reported that the applicant’s shoulder and back had almost invisible scars that were apparently the result of fragment wounds.  

Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards.  Paragraph 2-8 (Purple Heart) contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to awarding the PH.  It states, in pertinent part, that the PH is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, who has been wounded or killed in action.  

The awards regulation states that a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under the conditions defined by this regulation.  In order to support awarding a member the PH, it is necessary to establish that the wound, for which the award is being made, required treatment by a medical officer.  This treatment must be supported by records of medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action, and must have been made a matter of official record.  

The applicant’s medical records, for the period of service under review, were not available to this Board.  Further, there was no independent evidence, submitted by the applicant, to verify that his wound or injury required treatment by a medical officer, or that this treatment was made a matter of official record.  In addition, the applicant provided no independent evidence, in the form of witness statements, to support his claim.  

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.  Notwithstanding the statement of the applicant and the comment contained in the VA rating decision, the Board concludes, after careful examination of the evidence of record and the independent evidence submitted by the applicant, that there was an insufficient evidentiary basis on which to grant relief.

2.  The applicant’s service record contains no information to support his claim of entitlement to the PH, and there are no medical records available that verify that he was treated for a wound by a medical officer or that this treatment was made a matter of official record.  Further, there is no indication in the service record that the applicant ever raised this issue subsequent to the date he claims he was wounded, or at the time of his separation when he was issued and signed a 
DD Form 214 that did not include any reference to the PH.

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 aforementioned 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

__tbr ___  ___gp___  ___mkp__  DENY APPLICATION

		    Carl W. S. Chun
		    Director, Army Board for Correction
    of Military Records

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000036540	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2000/05/10	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	1971/09/02	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 635-200 C5	
DISCHARGE REASON	Early Release of AUS Personnel	
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.