PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           6 March 2001                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000047333

	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:

	Mr. Stanley Kelley		Chairperson	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Harry B. Oberg		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 his separation document (DD Form 214) be corrected to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded in Vietnam by shrapnel from a grenade and spent months in Valley Forge General Hospital recuperating from his injuries.  He contends that he received a Purple Heart while in the hospital in Saigon but it is not listed on his DD Form 214.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 4 November 1966 and served as an automatic rifleman with the 199th Infantry Brigade in Vietnam from November 1967 to September 1968.  He was honorably separated to the US Army Reserve on 15 January 1969 in the grade of sergeant.

5.  His awards include the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960 device, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Valorous Unit Award and the Sharpshooter Badge with Rifle Bar.  There is no indication that he was awarded a Purple Heart.

6.  Block 40 (wounds) of his Enlisted Qualification Record contains the entry “Multiple frags to both legs - 30 Sep 68”.  

7.  His Report of Medical Examination completed on 18 December 1968 shows that he was treated for multiple fragment wounds to the legs and given a 3 in his physical profile under legs.

8.  Army Regulation 600-200, Preparation and Maintenance of the Enlisted Qualification Record, the regulation then in effect, states in pertinent part, that for item 40 (wounds), enter a brief description of wounds or injuries requiring medical treatment, received through hostile or enemy action.  Enter the date wounded or injured.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of records shows that the applicant was an infantryman awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and was serving with an infantry unit in a combat zone at the time he was wounded.  Further, an entry in his qualification record suggests his wounds were a result of enemy action.  Therefore, it would be appropriate to award him the Purple Heart.

2.  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 wounds received in combat in Vietnam on 30 September 1968.

BOARD VOTE:  

___sk___  ____ewl _  ____hbo_  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		__________Stanley Kelley_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000047333	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20010306	
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.