PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:         

	BOARD DATE:            8 September 1999
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999015741

	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. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Mr. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred K. McCoy		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karen L. Wolff		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 he be awarded the Purple Heart (PH) for wounds received in Vietnam.

3.  The applicant states that he was wounded in Vietnam and was never awarded the PH for his wounds.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that the applicant was inducted in Amarillo, Texas on 24 September 1969.  He successfully completed his training and was transferred to Vietnam on 11 March 1970 for duty as a light weapons infantryman.

5.  On 31 May 1970, while serving in the rank of private first class, he was wounded (fragmentation wound to the right knee) while on a combat operation.  He was hospitalized and treated in Vietnam and was subsequently evacuated to a hospital at Fort Wolters, Texas.

6.  On 24 July 1970 he was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas, where he remained until he was honorably released from active duty on 24 June 1971 to accept or return to employment of a seasonal nature.  His DD Form 214 shows that he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze service stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Sharpshooter Markmanship Badge with rifle and machinegun bars.  There is no evidence to show that he was ever awarded the PH. 

7.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 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 a result of hostile action, that the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and that the medical treatment was made a matter of official record.

8.  Army Regulation 672-5-1, in effect at the time, established the criteria for award of the CIB.  It states, in pertinent part, that to be eligible for the CIB, an individual must be an infantryman with an infantry military occupational specialty (MOS) and must perform duty as an infantryman, as a member of an infantry unit of brigade or smaller size, during any period in which that unit was engaged in ground combat.  Battle participation credit alone is not sufficient.

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  There is sufficient evidence to show that the applicant was wounded on 31 May 1970 while serving as an infantryman in Vietnam and that he was treated by medical personnel.

2.  Therefore, it is reasonable to presume that as result of an administrative oversight, he was not awarded the Purple Heart that he was entitled to receive.  Therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to correct this error at this time.

3.  Additionally, there is sufficient evidence information to show that he served as an infantryman in combat in Vietnam with an infantry company and that he was wounded while performing those duties against an armed enemy of the United States.  Therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to award him the CIB at this time for his service as an infantryman in combat in Vietnam.

4.  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:

a.  by showing that the individual concerned was wounded in action against the enemy in Vietnam on 31 May 1970 and that he was awarded the Purple Heart for his wounds; and

b.  by showing that he was awarded the CIB on 31 May 1970 as well.

BOARD VOTE:  

__fkm___  ___owt__  ___klw __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_____Fred K. McCoy______
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999015741	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	1999/09/08	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61 	107.0015/PH	
2.  157 	107.0111/CIB	
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.