PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           30 January 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000048899

	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	
	Mrs. Nancy Amos		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Arthur A. Omartian		Chairperson	
	Mr. Thomas E. O’Shaughnessy, Jr.		Member	
	Ms. Brenda F. Hirschi		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 second Purple Heart due him and that his Report of Transfer or Discharge, DD Form 214, be corrected to add all his awards.

3.  The applicant states that he should have received two Purple Hearts plus he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with “V” device.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that after having had prior service in the Army National Guard, he enlisted in the Regular Army on 16 September 1966.  He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 11B (Light Weapons Infantryman).  He completed basic airborne training.  

5.  The applicant departed absent without leave (AWOL) from 29 March through 24 April 1967 enroute to the overseas replacement station.

6.  The applicant arrived in Vietnam on or about 3 June 1967 and was assigned to Company A, 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade and performed duties as an 11B1P rifleman.  He was awarded the Purple Heart for fragment wounds to the left side of his back received in action on 22 June 1967.

7.  The applicant’s Enlisted Qualification Record, DA Form 20, shows that he was wounded on 19 November 1967 with fragment wounds to the neck and right arm and a broken right (sic) arm .  His later Physical Evaluation Board proceedings show that he was evaluated for a chief complaint of a fragment wound to the left (sic) elbow and a fragment wound to the back.  He was found unfit for duty as a result of a severely comminuted fracture of the left elbow and partial paralysis of the left hand.  

8.  The applicant’s DA Form 20 also shows that he was wounded on                    21 November 1967 with fragment wounds to both legs.  An unsigned, carbon copy of a U. S. Army Casualty Report, USARV Form 130R, shows that he was wounded on 21 November 1967 with fragment wounds to both legs while he was on a search and destroy mission when the enemy engaged and a firefight ensued.

9.  The applicant was medically evacuated from Vietnam on or about                   5 December 1967.  He departed AWOL from 25 through 28 April 1968,               17 through 27 June 1968, 20 through 20 July 1968, and 25 through 26 November 1968.  He was retired by reason of a physical disability with a disability rating of 70 percent on 11 February 1969.  His DA Form 20 shows that his conduct and efficiency were rated as “excellent” in all his assignments; however, his 13-month assignment as a patient at Fort Sill, OK was unrated.

10.  The U. S. Total Army Personnel Command has verified that the applicant was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with “V” device on General Orders 2054, Headquarters, 173d Airborne Brigade dated 30 December 1967 and the Bronze Star Medal with “V” Device on General Orders 440, Headquarters, 173d Airborne Brigade dated 8 February 1968.

11.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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.  It provides for the award of the Combat Infantryman Badge to a soldier who is an infantryman satisfactorily performing infantry duties, who is assigned to an infantry unit during such time as the unit is engaged in active ground combat, and must actively participate in such ground combat.

12.  Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, provided policy and criteria concerning individual military decorations.  It stated that the Army Good Conduct Medal was awarded for each 3 years of continuous enlisted active Federal military service completed on or after 27 August 1940 and, for the first award only, upon termination of service on or after 27 June 1950 of less than 3 years but more than 1 year.  At the time, a soldier’s conduct and efficiency ratings must have been rated as “excellent” for the entire period of qualifying service.

13.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 shows that the 2d Battalion, 503d Infantry was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for the period 6 through       23 November 1967 and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm for the period 5 May 1965 through 26 September 1970.

14.  Authorization for Issuance of Awards, DA Form 1577, dated 7 January 1992 prepared by the Army Reserve Personnel Center authorized the applicant, among other awards, issuance of the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Expert Badge with Machine Gun Bar (the Badge also shown on his DA Form 20).

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is sufficient evidence of record to show that the applicant is entitled to a second award of the Purple Heart for wounds received in action on 19 November 1967.

2.  The applicant does not contend that he should be awarded a third Purple Heart although there is some evidence to show that he might have been 

wounded a third time.  However, the Board concludes that the evidence is contradictory and not corroborated by the Physical Evaluation Board findings.  The Board does not find it reasonable to believe that the applicant was on a search and destroy mission two days after he sustained a severely broken arm.  In addition, the Physical Evaluation Board proceedings make no mention of an injury sustained on 21 November 1967 or of fragment wounds to the legs.

3.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with “V” device and the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device. He also met the eligibility criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.  In addition, he was assigned to a unit at the time that unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.

4.  The evidence of record shows that the applicant was awarded the Expert Badge with Machine Gun Bar.

5.  The Army Reserve Personnel Command prepared a DA Form 1577 dated      7 January 1992 which authorized the issuance of the Army Good Conduct Medal to the applicant.  This was presumably based upon the fact that his DA Form 20 showed that the assignments that received conduct and efficiency ratings showed that they were all rated “excellent.”  However, the Board notes that the applicant had a total of 44 days of AWOL time.  Had his service while in a patient status been rated, the Board concludes that it would have been unlikely that his conduct and efficiency would have been rated as “excellent” due to his AWOLs during that assignment.  The Board concludes that the AWOL time makes the applicant ineligible for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal.  The Army Reserve Personnel Command is not an awards approval authority.  Although the Board will not reverse their decision to authorize him issuance of the Army Good Conduct Medal, it would not be appropriate to enter the Army Good Conduct Medal on his DD Form 214.

6.  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 awarding the applicant the Purple Heart 1st oak leaf cluster for wounds received in action on 19 November 1967 and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

2.  That the applicant’s DD Form 214 be amended to add the Purple Heart second award, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star Medal with “V” device, the Army Commendation Medal with “V” device, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Expert Badge with Machine Gun Bar.

BOARD VOTE:  

__aao___  __toe___  __bfh___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Arthur A. Omartian
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000048899	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010130	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	110.04	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.