PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           28 November 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000047498

	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	
	Ms. Wanda L. Waller		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Margaret K. Patterson 		Chairperson	
	Mr. John H. Kern		Member	
	Mr. Wilfred A. Hale, Jr.		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 award of the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he was wounded in Vietnam and never received the Purple Heart.  In support of his application, he submits a copy of a Standard Form 509 (Progress Notes) dated 24 August 1994. 

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was ordered to active duty for training on 10 November 1964.  He was honorably released from active duty on 16 May 1965 and transferred to the National Guard to complete his remaining obligation.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 29 November 1965 for a period of 3 years.  He served as a pioneer (an engineer military occupational specialty) in Vietnam from 3 October 1966 through 2 October 1967 and was honorably released on 13 December 1968.

5.  The applicant’s DD Form 214 (Report of Transfer or Discharge) with an effective date of 13 December 1968, which was authenticated in his own hand, does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

6.  There is no evidence in the applicant’s service personnel records that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

7.  Item 39 (Physician’s Summary and Elaboration of all Pertinent Data) on the applicant’s Standard Form 89 (Report of Medical History), dated 4 November 1968, states that the applicant sustained four superficial fragment wounds to his back, right hand and nose in Vietnam in 1966.  

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides, in pertinent part, 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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  Medical evidence of record shows that the applicant sustained four superficial fragment wounds in Vietnam in 1966.  Therefore, the applicant is entitled to correction of his military records to show award of 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.

BOARD VOTE:  

MKP___  JHK_____  WAH_____  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		Margaret K. Patterson__
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000047498	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20001128	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	19681213	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 635-200  	
DISCHARGE REASON	Expiration term of service	
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.