PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:            8 February 2001                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:    AR2000045626

	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. Edmund P. Mercanti		                        Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. JoAnn H. Langston		Chairperson	
	Mr. Donald P. Hupman		Member	
	Mr. George D. Paxson		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 he be awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that while he was manning the weapons on a combat vessel in Vietnam, the boat was ambushed and he was shot in both legs.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 10 August 1969, was awarded the military occupational specialty of light weapons infantryman, and was assigned to an infantry unit in Vietnam on 5 February 1970.

5.  Military medical records show that the applicant was treated for a bullet wound to his left knee in February 1970, while he was in Vietnam.  The record does not describe the circumstances of the wound.  

6.  On 23 March 1971 the applicant was honorably released from active duty due to insufficient time remaining on his enlistment to reassign him to a new unit after completion of his tour in Vietnam.  His DD Form 214, Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge, shows that the applicant was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Air Medal.  None of the applicant’s military records, including his separation documents, show that he was issued the Purple Heart.

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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.  The evidence of record does not conclusively establish the applicant’s eligibility for the Purple Heart since there is no record of how he sustained the gunshot wound to his left knee.  However, the record does not suggest that the wound was self inflicted.  

2.  Nevertheless, since the applicant was an infantryman serving in an infantry unit in Vietnam during a time of open hostilities, the Board will give the applicant the benefit of doubt that the wound was a result of enemy action.  

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

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was awarded the Purple Heart for a gunshot wound to his left knee in February 1970.

BOARD VOTE:  

___jhl___  ____dph_  ____gdp_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		___________JoAnn H. Langston_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000045626	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010208	
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.		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.