PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:     

	BOARD DATE:           7 March 2002                   
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001060364

	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. Raymond V. O'Connor		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 the Combat Infantryman Badge.

3.  The applicant states that his DD Form 214, Report of Transfer or Discharge, does not reflect award of the Purple Heart or the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB).  He provides no documentation in support of his request.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he enlisted in the Regular Army for 3 years on 25 July 1968.  He received training as a watercraft operator (Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 61B), served in Vietnam for 2 months and 11 days from 16 January 1969 to 26 March 1969, and was honorably separated to the US Army Reserve on 8 November 1971 in the grade of specialist four.

5.  His DA Form 20, Enlisted Qualification Record, (Record of Assignments Section), shows that he was assigned to the 1097th Medium Boat Company, 9th Infantry Division, in MOS 61A (seaman), on 29 January 1969.  On 25 March 1969, he was listed as a patient and reassigned to Madigan General Hospital, Fort Lewis, Washington.  

6.  The Record of Assignments Section provides no details or reasons for his evacuation from Vietnam.  However, item 40 (Wounds) of the DA Form 20 contains the entry – fragment wounds chest, face and left shoulder – 5 March 1969.

7.  DA Form 3349, Medical Condition – Physical Profile Record, dated 23 May 1969, released the applicant from Madigan General Hospital to duty with the following defects noted: (1) Gunshot wound, right ear and loss of part of superior helix.  (2) High frequency neurosensory hearing loss right ear.

8.  The applicant’s record contains no information that indicates he ever served as an infantryman during his Vietnam assignment.

9.  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 by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.

10.  The same regulation, provides, in pertinent part, that the CIB is awarded to infantry officers and to enlisted and warrant officer personnel who have an infantry MOS.  They must have served in active ground combat while assigned or attached to an infantry unit of brigade, regimental or smaller size.  The Awards Branch, US Total Army Personnel Command has advised, in similar cases, that during the Vietnam era the CIB was awarded only to enlisted individuals who held and served in MOS 11B, 11C, 11F, 11G and 11H.

11.  Army Regulation 600-200, Preparation and Maintenance of the Enlisted Qualification Form (DA Form 20), provides in pertinent part, that item 40 (Wounds) of the DA Form 20 will contain a brief description of wounds or injuries (including injuries from gas) requiring medical treatment, received through hostile or enemy action, including those requiring hospitalization.  The date wounded will also be entered.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  While the applicant’s record does not unmistakably show that he was wounded in action with the enemy, circumstantial evidence in the form of the entry under wounds of his Enlisted Qualification Record, and the Medical Condition – Physical Profile Record issued by Madigan General Hospital, strongly suggest his wounds were the result of enemy action.  Consequently, it would be equitable to resolve any doubt in his favor and award him the Purple Heart. 

2.  On the other hand, the record contains no evidence whatsoever to indicated that he was ever awarded an infantry MOS, or performed as an infantryman during his time in Vietnam.  Therefore, there is no basis to consider awarding him the CIB.

3.  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 Purple Heart for wounds received in Vietnam on 5 March 1969.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__rvo___  ___jpi ___  ___rks __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________Raymond V. O'Connor_______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001060364	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20020307	
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.