PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:         

	BOARD DATE:           1 August 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999030993

	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. Kenneth H. Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Ms. Deborah S. Jacobs 		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy 		Member	
	Mr. Ernest W. Lutz, Jr. 		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 award of the Silver Star, and reconsideration of his previous application to correct his records by awarding him the Purple Heart. 

3.  The applicant states that he was told by a friend who was shot down with him in Vietnam that he [the applicant] was awarded the Silver Star by the same order that awarded his friend the Silver Star.  He does not have a copy of that order.  He states that he has submitted new evidence to support his contention that he should be awarded the Purple Heart.   

4.  The applicant states that he did not get treated at the medical station that he was taken to, but instead walked to his troop area and had the troop medic take care of his back wound.  He stated he had no proof of the back wound.  He did state that he received a neck injury that is on his medical record.  In this, he referred to the medical form mentioned in the Board’s original consideration of his case.  He states that he does not know why the doctor did not state that he was a battle injury.  The applicant provides statements from three individuals, who he says were the crew chief of the helicopter used to medically evacuate him, his aircraft commander, and a crew chief who was flying an aircraft, and who witnessed the event.  He provides a list of all utility helicopters in his troop, and a history of the helicopter that he was in when it was lost to combat.

4.  NEW EVIDENCE OR INFORMATION:  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in a memorandum prepared to reflect the Board's original consideration of his case on 13 January 1999 (COPY ATTACHED).

5.  The applicant’s DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows that he was a door gunner with Troop D, 3d Squadron, 5th Cavalry, of the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam, from 30 August 1968 to 1 November 1968, after which he was a helicopter repairman with that same unit until his return to the United States in July 1969.  His DD Form 214 shows that he received an honorable separation from the Army in the grade of E-5 on 18 December 1969, and that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal with V device, among his other awards.  A 28 October 1968 general order published by the 9th Infantry Division shows that the applicant was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with V device for heroism on         15 September 1968, enabling his aircraft to extract encircled ground troops.  

6.  In an undated letter, an individual who states that he is a retired lieutenant colonel, certified that the applicant did get wounded as a result of enemy fire on 26 September 1968, when he was a door gunner on his [the individual] aircraft.  He was the aircraft commander when the aircraft was shot down by Viet Cong ground fire.  He stated that he personally saw that the applicant had been wounded.  He enclosed a copy of the unit after action report for that date, and statements from two individuals, who were crew chiefs in the applicant’s unit. 
The after action report, dated 26 September 1968, referenced by the above individual shows that a helicopter was indeed shot down on that date, and that the pilot had been injured from gunshot wounds.

7.  In an undated letter, another individual, who states that he was in a sister aircraft called upon to rescue the crew and the wounded infantryman in the aircraft that had been shot down, said that at first he thought that the applicant had not been wounded, but then noticed that he had blood on his shirt and appeared to have been hit in the back.  He stated that after the aircraft had medically evacuated the soldiers, he advised the applicant to see the medics.  He stated that the applicant was injured in the course of the action on that day. 
With his statement, the individual submits a copy of a 9th Infantry Division general order awarding him the Army Commendation Medal with V device for his heroism as a crew chief on 26 September 1968 in extracting badly wounded soldiers onto his helicopter.

8.  In a 25 February 1997 statement, an individual stated that he served with the applicant and that the applicant was treated for injuries to his back and neck   that he sustained when his aircraft was shot down in September 1968.

9.  In an undated statement, another individual who states that he was a crew chief on a helicopter, stated that he witnessed the event on 26 September 1968, in which the applicant’s helicopter was shot down, and the rescue of the soldiers in that helicopter by the crew of another helicopter.  He stated that the applicant received a back and neck injury on that day.

10.  Information pertaining to the helicopter, which the applicant states was shot down on 26 September 1968, shows that it was a combat loss on that date, and  that the applicant was a crew member.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The new evidence provided by the applicant is convincing.  He was wounded in action on 26 September 1968 and is entitled to award of the Purple Heart. 

2.  The applicant has provided no information or evidence to show that he was awarded the Silver Star or that he was recommended for award of the Silver Star.  Consequently, his request for that award cannot be granted.

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 applicant was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained as a result of hostile action on 26 September 1968.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

___kak__  ___dsj___  ___ewl__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999030993	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000801	
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.  61	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.