PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            22 March 2001
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000049938

	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. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Shirley L. Powell		Chairperson	
	Mr. John P. Infante		Member	
	Ms. Regan K. Smith		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 and Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he should have been awarded the CIB because he held the military occupational specialty (MOS) of an infantryman (11B) and because he was offered a Purple Heart when he was in a field hospital, but he refused it at the time because he did not think he deserved it.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted in Portland, Oregon on 6 August 1969.  He successfully completed his advanced individual training in MOS 11B at Fort Lewis, Washington and was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia.  Upon completion of his airborne training he was transferred to Fort Lee, Virginia to undergo training as a parachute rigger.  He successfully completed his training and was awarded the primary MOS of a rigger (43E2P).  His primary MOS (PMOS) of 11B1P was then designated as his secondary MOS (SMOS).

5.  On 28 May 1970 he was transferred to Vietnam and was assigned to a Quartermaster Company as a parachute rigger.  He was then transferred to an airmobile infantry company on 21 September 1970 for duty as a rifleman.  He remained assigned to the infantry company until he was returned to Fort Lewis, Washington on 28 May 1971, where he was honorably released from active duty as an early overseas returnee.  He had served 1 year 9 months and 16 days of total active service and had 7 days of lost time due to being absent without leave (AWOL).  

6.  His report of separation (DD Form 214) shows that he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Badge with  M-14 bar, the Sharpshooter Marksmanship Badge with M-16 bar, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Army Commendation Medal (ARCOM).  However, the available records also contain orders showing that he was awarded two awards of the ARCOM and an award of the Air Medal (AM) that was not included on his DD Form 214 at the time of separation.

7.  A review of the available records fails to show that the applicant was ever wounded/injured in combat or that he received treatment for any wounds/injuries. Additionally, there is no evidence to show that he ever engaged the enemy in combat while serving in the capacity of a rifleman.

8.  Army Regulation 672-5-1 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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.
9.  Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, also established the criteria for award of the CIB.  It states, in pertinent part, that to be eligible for the CIB, an individual must be an infantryman with an infantry military occupational specialty (MOS) and must perform duty as an infantryman, as a member of an infantry unit of brigade or smaller size, during any period in which that unit was engaged in ground combat.  Battle participation credit alone is not sufficient.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record fails to clearly show that the applicant was wounded/injured as a result of enemy action while serving in Vietnam.  Therefore, he is not entitled to be awarded the Purple Heart.

2.  Additionally, there is no evidence to show that he engaged the enemy in combat while serving as a rifleman in Vietnam.  Therefore, there is no basis to award him the CIB.

3.  However, there is evidence to show that he was awarded the AM and a second award of the ARCOM.  Therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to correct his records to show that he was awarded the AM and the ARCOM First Oak Leaf Cluster (1OLC).

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 showing that the individual concerned was awarded the AM and the ARCOM 1OLC.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__slp ___  ___jpi ___  ___rks __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Shirley L. Powell_____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000049938	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2001/03/22	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT PARTIAL	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61	107.0015/PH	
2.  64	107.0018/AM	
3.  66	107.0020/ARCOM	
4.  157	107.0111/CIB	
5.		
6.