IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 23 April 2009 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20090000653 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states, in effect, that while serving as a rifleman with Company A, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, in Vietnam he was wounded on 14 November 1968. He contends that in December 1968 he was informed he would receive the Purple Heart but the medal was never awarded. 3. The applicant provides a letter, dated 28 April 2008, from the National Personnel Record Center, St. Louis, Missouri; copies of letters, dated December 1968, he wrote to his parents while he was in Vietnam; copies of the 35th Infantry Regiment Association Vietnam War Timeline, dated 13 and 14 November 1968; and a letter, dated 24 July 2008, from a Member of Congress in support of his application. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing. 2. The applicant’s military records are not available to the Board. This case is being considered using the documents provided by the applicant, his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge), and pages 1-3 of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record). 3. The applicant was inducted into the Army of the United States on 19 March 1968. He served as a light weapons infantryman assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, in Vietnam from 12 August 1968 through 6 August 1969. The applicant was released from active duty on 18 March 1970. 4. The applicant’s DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. 5. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records. 6. Review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart. 7. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster. 8. In support of his claim, the applicant provided copies of letters, dated December 1968, which he wrote to his parents while in Vietnam. In one letter he states that he "caught three pieces of 'shrap metel,' (sic) two in the arm and one in the leg" and that he was "put in and am getting a Purple Heart." 9. The applicant also provided documentation from the 35th Infantry Regiment Association which describes combat missions in Vietnam on 13 and 14 November 1968. However, this documentation does not state that he was wounded in action on 14 November 1968. 10. 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence of record which shows that the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. In the absence of orders or other evidence of record showing that the applicant was injured or treated for wounds as a result of hostile action in Vietnam, the December 1968 letters and the documentation from the 35th Infantry Regiment Association provided by the applicant are not sufficient as a basis for award of the Purple Heart. Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence on which to base award of the Purple Heart in this case. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ___X____ __X_____ ___X___ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. _______ _ X _______ ___ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090000653 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20090000653 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1