MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:            2 March 2000                 
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999033141

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.

	Mr. Walter Avery, Jr.		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Edwin S. Castle		Chairperson	
	Mr. Stanley Kelley		Member	
	Ms. Kathleen A. Newman		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether to authorize a formal hearing, recommend that the records be corrected without a formal hearing, or to deny the application without a formal hearing if it is determined that insufficient relevant evidence has been presented to demonstrate the existence of probable material error or injustice.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military 
                records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including
	            advisory opinion, if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS: That his military records be corrected to show that he was awarded the Purple Heart.

APPLICANT STATES:  That he was wounded in the left leg as the result of a grenade explosion while serving in Kuwait and should be awarded the Purple Heart for that injury. 

In support of his request for the Purple Heart, he has included statements from a staff sergeant (SSG) who states he saw the applicant with two grenades.  He also included a letter sent to him from the doctor the treated him immediately after his injuries.

Additionally he has provided extracts from his medical records and Department of Veterans Affairs records.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records show he entered active duty on 7 December 1990, and separated honorably on 11 June 1991 for expiration term of service.  He was ordered to active duty in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm, serving there from 8 October 1991 – 1 April 1992.

His awards include the Army Lapel Button, Army Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal, Virginia National Guard Bronze Star Medal and the Perfect Attendance Ribbon.

The applicant’s recollection of the event which entitles him to the Purple Heart is that as a nurse he was working on a patient in the 807th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH).  He heard a scream and someone yell, “He’s got a grenade.”  An Iraqi prisoner brought in for treatment possessed grenades.  He rushed to the Iraqi prisoner, saw the grenades, noticed that the pin was not present, put his hand around the grenades, started towards the front door, and was given a pin that he placed back in the grenade.  Once outside he encountered a second officer with another grenade, they both threw the grenades into a crater. The grenades did not explode and the applicant thought that it was unsafe to leave the grenades unexploded, so he low crawled towards the pit to see if the grenades were overthrown.  As he crawled towards the pit the sand shifted, and a metal thing started rolling towards him and then there was a loud sound.  Immediately, he felt a tremendous head pain and burning in his left leg.  He does remember a doctor telling him “he was hurt and he’d keep this for him”.  The applicant states that in a separate letter the doctor sent him the shrapnel from his leg.  The applicant states his belief that the 23 March 1991 entry in his medical record and the casualty report which both state he fell while disposing of grenades are incorrect.

A Casualty Report dated 4 April 1991 reports the accident as: An Iraqi patient came into the emergency room with two grenades in his pockets.  There was no struggle involved.  A physician removed the grenades took them outside and gave them to the applicant, who took them to a sandbag area to dispose of them. He tripped and rolled into some concertina wire.  The grenades never exploded.  Superficial cuts.  A 2-millimeter piece of metal, believed to be a barb, was removed from the applicant’s leg.  The applicant was evacuated to the 12th Evacuation Hospital for neurologic psychological screening.  Preliminary mental status examination revealed disorientation and inappropriate responses to most questions.  Soldier was evacuated to Wiesbaden, Germany on 26 March 1991.

A SSG, US Army, B Battery 1/5th Field Artillery provided an eyewitness statement.  In summary it states at approximately 1400, 23 March 1991 at 807th MASH he and another soldier observed an act of heroism by the applicant.  He saw the applicant go by him with two grenades one with and one without a safety pin.  Ten minutes later he saw the applicant return without the grenades, but was cut on the face and bleeding.  A nurse noticed the injuries and led the applicant off.  The eyewitness does not state he saw a second officer, that he heard an explosion or that he saw the injury occur.

In a 26 May 1991 letter to the applicant, the signer writes that enclosed in the letter is a piece of the shrapnel found in the applicant’s leg.  He expresses that he is glad the applicant is all right and that the commanding officer and another colonel knew what happened to the applicant.  The signer identifies himself as a medical doctor.  The Board attempted to use the two telephone numbers provided to contact the writer.  However, the number listed as a home number is disconnected and the number listed as an office number is someone else’s residential number.

A Department of Veterans Affairs, Rating Decision Codesheet contains the following pertinent entries:  Distal ascending aortic aneurism secondary to blast injury 20%, Post concussive syndrome 10%, Scar, residual, shrapnel 

wound, left thigh 0%, slightly enlarged right adrenal gland secondary to hemorrhage from blast injury 0%.  

There are several treatment sheets in the applicant’s medical record that refer to shrapnel or concussion, but appear to be repeating previous entries.

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.  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. The fact that in the applicant’s version of events he removed the pin, thereby making the device unsafe brings in to serious question if any subsequent injury can be deemed as the result of hostile action.

In the processing of this case the board found it necessary to contact the commander of the 159th MASH, the applicant’s home unit.  The commander confirmed he was commander of the applicant.  He stated the applicant at the time of the incident had been further assigned to the 807th MASH.  He had spoken to the applicant and the commander of the 807th MASH. He stated if the incident had occurred as outlined by the applicant this would have been a serious incident and would have been well documented.  He spoke with the applicant and told him if he had any hard evidence to support  his request for a Purple Heart award he should present it.  None has been forthcoming.  The applicant was provided a copy of the communication and acknowledged receipt.

DISCUSSION:  Considering all the evidence, allegations, and information presented by the applicant, together with the evidence of record, applicable law and regulations, it is concluded:

1.  The applicant’s previous unit commander, 159th MASH, stated he spoke with the commander of the 807th MASH where the incident took place.  The 807th commander was very clear on the point that no explosion took place, that only the applicant repeatedly tells the version of events, which includes 
the grenade explosion.  The previous 159th MASH commander was approached by the applicant regarding the Purple Heart.  He advised the applicant to provide him any evidence to support such request, but the applicant never provided any.

2.  A review of the applicant’s and the statements supporting his request reveal several significant inconsistencies.  The applicant states he left the emergency room with one grenade with the pin in, there was another nurse with a second grenade and there was an explosion and he was injured.  The SSG, eyewitness states the applicant had both grenades, one with and one without a pin, he does not mention hearing an explosion, nor does he mention seeing a second nurse with a grenade leaving or accompanying the now wounded applicant.  The version of events told by the applicant his supporters and records are not consistent on the point that the applicant was wounded by a grenade.  The first medical entry, placed on 23 March 1991, the casualty report and the information provided by the applicant’s commander provide a more consistent and probable sequence of events that does not support an award of the Purple Heart. 

3.  The are several entries in the applicant’s medical record that do use the words “shrapnel” or “concussion” and at first appear to support the applicant’s contention.  Upon closer examination it appears that once the initial unconfirmed story was told to medical personnel, that story as to the cause of the injury to the applicant’s left leg was simply repeated.  The weight and quality of the evidence does not support a determination that the item removed from the applicant was from a grenade.

4.  The Purple Heart, while clearly an individual decoration, differs from other decorations in that an individual is not recommended for the award; rather he or she is entitled to it upon meeting certain criteria. The applicant has not met the criteria.  Under the circumstances, the questionable cause of the injury and inconsistent statements do not support awarding him the Purple Heart.

5.  In view of the foregoing, there is no basis for granting the applicant's request.

DETERMINATION:  The applicant has failed to submit sufficient relevant evidence to demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

_esc ____  _sk _____  _kan____  DENY APPLICATION

						Karl F. Schneider
			     	    Director, Army Review Boards Agency

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999033141	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000302	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR .107.0015  .  .  .  .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	DENY	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.		
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.