PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           6 September 2001                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001059678

	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. Luther L. Santiful		Chairperson	
	Mr. Melvin H. Meyer		Member	
	Mr. John T. Meixell		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, the Air Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  The applicant states that he was told he was being recommended for the Purple Heart.  He flew more than 50 hours and should have been awarded the Air Medal.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army on 11 October 1966.  He completed basic combat training and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 67M (Single Rotor Observation Helicopter Mechanic).

5.  The applicant arrived in Vietnam on or about 25 August 1967 and was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Infantry Division Artillery as a helicopter mechanic. 

6.  An extract from the applicant’s medical records shows that he was treated for a “pungee stake” (a weapon used primarily by the Viet Cong) wound in the right leg on 17 October 1967.

7.  The applicant departed Vietnam on 11 August 1968.  He was released from active duty on 10 October 1969 after completing 3 years of creditable active service with no lost time.  His Enlisted Qualification Record, DA Form 20, shows that his conduct and efficiency had been rated as excellent throughout his enlistment.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  When contemplating an award of this decoration, the key issue that commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury.  Examples of enemy-related injuries which clearly justify award of the Purple Heart include an injury caused by an enemy placed mine or trap.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides for the award of the Air Medal to any person who will have distinguished himself while participating in aerial flight.  It is primarily intended to recognize those personnel who are on current crewmember or noncrewmember flying status which requires them to participate in aerial flight on a regular and frequent basis in the performance of their primary duties.  However, it may also be awarded to personnel whose combat duties require them to fly in the attack elements of units involved in airland assaults against an armed enemy.  Involvement in such activities serves only to establish eligibility for award of the Air Medal; the degree of heroism, meritorious achievement or exemplary service determines who should receive the award.

10.  At the time, U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 provided that individuals who traveled by aircraft from point to point for the purpose of participating in combat assaults were eligible for the award of the Air Medal for achievement after completion of 25 assault missions.  For personnel transported by aircraft, a combat assault mission was defined as a mission where friendly troops conducted the initial landings into a hostile area for the purpose of conducting combat or combat support operations.  A passenger may have received credit for one mission for each assault landing completed.

11.  Combat missions were divided into three categories.  A category I mission was defined as a mission performed in an assault role in which a hostile force was engaged and was characterized by delivery of ordnance against the hostile force, or delivery of friendly troops or supplies into the immediate combat operations area.  A category II mission was characterized by support rendered a friendly force immediately before, during or immediately following a combat operation.  A category III mission was characterized by support of friendly forces not connected with an immediate combat operation but which must have been accomplished at altitudes which made the aircraft at times vulnerable to small arms fire, or under hazardous weather or terrain conditions.

12.  To be recommended for award of the Air Medal, an individual must have completed a minimum of 25 category I missions, 50 category II missions or     100 category III missions.  Since various types of missions would have been completed in accumulating flight time toward award of an Air Medal for sustained operations, different computations would have had to be made to combine category I, II and III flight time and adjust it to a common denominator.

13.  Normally, missions flown by personnel assigned to nonaviation units would have been recorded on USARV Form 131 by the individual and signed by the certifying officer.

14.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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.  Campaign or battle credit alone is not sufficient for award of the CIB.

15.  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.

16.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 shows that Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Infantry Division Artillery was awarded the Republic    of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation for the period October      1966 – 28 July 1969 and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class Unit Citation for the period 1 October 1966 – 31 October 1969.

17.  Aviation Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, indicated that it is not unusual for helicopter mechanics to fly on missions and also not unusual for them to leave the helicopter while on missions.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The Board concludes that there is sufficient evidence to show that the applicant was wounded by an enemy trap (a “pungee stake”) and so is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

2.  The Board acknowledges that as a helicopter repairman the applicant flew on missions; however, there is no USARV Form 131 on file for the applicant and he provides no other evidence to show how many or the types of missions he flew on.  Therefore, the Board concludes that there is insufficient evidence to show the applicant should have been awarded the Air Medal.

3.  The applicant was not an infantryman; therefore, he did not meet the eligibility criteria for award of the Combat Infantryman Badge.

4.  The applicant met the eligibility criteria for award of the Army Good Conduct Medal.  

5.  The applicant was assigned to a unit during a period of time that unit was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class Unit Citation.  He is entitled to these awards, also.

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 for wounds received on    17 October 1967 and the Army Good Conduct Medal for the period 11 October 1966 – 10 October 1969.
2.  That the applicant’s Report of Transfer or Discharge, DD Form 214, be amended to add the Purple Heart, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal, First Class Unit Citation.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__lls___  __mhm___  __jtm___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

			Luther L. Santiful
		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001059678	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20010906	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	(GRANT)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0015	
2.	107.0012	
3.	107.0111	
4.		
5.		
6.