PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:            3 August 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999034193

	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. John N. Slone		Chairperson	
	Mr. Edwin S. Castle		Member	
	Mr. Orville W. Troesch, 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 that his Report of Transfer or Discharge (DD Form 214) be corrected to show a second Bronze Star Medal (BSM) with combat “V” and a second Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his DD Form 214 does not currently show the previously mentioned awards.  In support of his request, he has provided a copy of his DD Form 214, a copy of 1st Infantry Division General Order (GO) 4506 awarding him the BSM with “V” device and a BSM Certificate (which does not indicate “with ‘V’ device”), 1st Infantry Division GO 7392 awarding him the BSM for meritorious service with accompanying certificate and 1st Infantry Division GO 2444 awarding him the Purple Heart for action on 29 March 1969 with accompanying certificate.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 10 January 1968 and served as a supply specialist with the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry,         1st Infantry Division in Vietnam from September 1968 to August 1969.  He was honorably separated to the US Army Reserve on 27 August 1969 in pay grade  E-4.

5.  Awards shown on his DD Form 214 include the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the BSM and the Purple Heart.

6.  Block 40 (wounds) of his Enlisted Qualification Record (DA Form 20) contains the entry – Gun shot wound grazed left side of chest – 29 March 1969.  Block 41 (awards and decorations) of the same form shows that he was awarded the Purple Heart per 1st Infantry Division GO 2444.

7.  1st Infantry Division GO 4506, provided by the applicant, shows that he was awarded the BSM with “V” device for action on 1 February 1969 in Vietnam.  The certificate for this BSM does not identify it as a BSM with “V” device.

8.  The citation for the BSM with “V” device indicates that the applicant was “painfully wounded” during the action for which he received the award, but there is no evidence elsewhere in the record that he was awarded a Purple Heart for that wound.  Nor, do Blocks 40 or 41 of his DA Form 20 contain any reference to a second wound or Purple Heart.

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.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The available evidence clearly shows that the applicant is entitled to the BSM (for meritorious service) and the BSM with “V” device.

2.  On the other hand, there is no evidence showing that he suffered a combat related wound other than the one for which he was awarded the Purple Heart on 29 March 1969.  Notwithstanding the reference to another wound contained in the citation for the BSM with “V” device, without further substantiating evidence of another wound there are no grounds for the Board to award an oak leaf cluster to the Purple Heart.

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 BSM with “V” device for action in Vietnam on 1 February 1969.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

__jns ___  __esc ___  ___owt__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_________John N. Slone______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999034193	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000803	
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.