PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:        

	BOARD DATE:             21 September 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR2000036635

	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. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. W. E. Schnupp		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. JoAnn H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Mr. Eric N. Andersen		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, in effect, that his assignment to the Signal Corps unit shown in block 12 (last duty assignment and major command) of his separation document (DD Form 214) be changed and he also be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states he never was in the Signal Corps unit shown on his      DD Form 214.  He says that during his Army time, he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas, (“The Big Red One” for the divisions numerical designation).  He was discharged from the Medical Holding Company, Fort Riley, Kansas.  He also contends that he should be awarded the Purple Heart for injuries by an instrument of war in Vietnam on 19 November 1970.

4.  In support of his request, he has provided a copy of the Narrative Summary of the medical board that determined he should be permanently retired for physical disability for a gunshot injury to the left foot sustained in Vietnam on                  18 November 1970, and a copy of his Enlisted Disability Retirement Orders, dated 13 June 1972, showing he was assigned to the US Army Hospital at Fort Riley, Kansas at the time of his retirement.

5.  The applicant’s military record shows that he was inducted on 12 March 1970. Following training he was awarded the military occupational specialty of light weapons infantryman and subsequently served 2 months and 19 days in Vietnam.  He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) when he was evacuated from Vietnam for medical treatment of a gunshot wound to the left foot.  Eventually, he was permanently retired for physical disability on 27 June 1972 in the grade of sergeant.

6.  The Narrative Summary of his medical board shows “…that while cleaning his M-16 rifle at Camp Eagle, RVN, at 0900 hours, 18 November 1970, the weapon accidentally discharged into the medial plantar aspect of the left foot”.

7.  His Enlisted Qualification Record shows that he was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas from 31 May 1971 to 30 August 1971.  He was then assigned to the Medical Department Activity (MEDDAC), until his retirement in June 1972.

8.  Reassignment orders published on 15 June 1972 show that at the time of his separation for retirement, the applicant was assigned to the Medical Holding Company of the Medical Department Activity (MEDDAC), Fort Riley, Kansas.

9.  The applicant’s Enlisted Qualification Record does not show that he was 

assigned to Company C, 67th Signal Battalion (as shown on his DD Form 214) nor are there any orders in his Military Personnel Records Jacket showing an assignment to that unit.

10.  Army Regulation 635-5, Personnel Separations, provides in pertinent part, that block 12 of DD Form 214 will show that last unit of assignment and the major command.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22, Military Awards, 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  It appears that the entry in block 12 of the applicant’s DD Form 214 is incorrect as there is no evidence showing that he was ever assigned to Company C, 67th Signal Battalion.  This entry should be corrected to reflect his proper unit of assignment at the time of his discharge as the Medical Holding Company, MEDDAC, Fort Riley, Kansas.

2.  The record shows that he was only assigned to the 1st Infantry Division for a three-month period prior to his assignment to the MEDDAC for disability processing.  Therefore, showing his assignment to “The Big Red One” as his last duty assignment would not be appropriate.  

3.  Insofar as his request for the Purple Heart is concerned, the evidence of record show that his injury, although sustained in a combat zone, was not the result of enemy action.  Accidental injuries received in a combat zone, not directly attributable to an act of the enemy are not considered wounds received in action and do not therefore, entitle an individual to the Purple Heart.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by changing the entry in block 12 of the DD Form 214 of the individual concerned to show that he was assigned to the Medical Holding Company, MEDDAC, Fort Riley, Kansas as his last duty assignment.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

____jhl__  ___clg___  ___ena__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________JoAnn H. Langston_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000036635	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000921	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.