PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:      

	BOARD DATE:           17 October 2000                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999034884

	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	
	Ms. P. A. Castle		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		Member	
	Ms. Linda D. Simmons		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 reconsideration of his request to correct his records by showing he was awarded the Purple Heart.  In effect, he states he was wounded while serving in Vietnam when he was hit by M-70 grenade fragments.

3.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in a memorandum of consideration prepared to reflect the Board’s original consideration of his case on 3 December 1997 (COPY ATTACHED).

4.  The submission of a witness statement from the applicant’s supervisor constitutes new evidence.

5.  The witness states the applicant was his crew chief on his OH-6A for the major portion of their tour in Vietnam.  He states that while over hostile territory in South Vietnam, in “War Zone C”, the applicant was wounded by a piece of shrapnel that lodged in his leg.
 
6.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action.  A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force.  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.  Ordinarily, witness statements are insufficient, in and of themselves to overcome the regulatory requirement that the wound be a result of hostile action. However, in this case the Board considers that the statement of the applicant’s supervisor together with the evidence of record in the form of the 15 April 1969 record of treatment and his 23 June 1969 flight physical is sufficient to justify the award of the Purple Heart as an exception to policy. 

2.  The applicant was treated for wounds sustained under qualifying conditions and is entitled to award of the Purple Heart.

3.  In consideration of the foregoing findings and conclusions it would be appropriate to correct the applicants records as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing the entitlement to the award of the Purple Heart as a result of enemy action in Vietnam in 1967.

BOARD VOTE:  

__RVO__  ___BJE__  __LDS__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

					_Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.
					         CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999034884	
SUFFIX		
RECON	 	
DATE BOARDED	20001017	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	 	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	 	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	 	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT 	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.00	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.