PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF: 

	BOARD DATE:            15 February 2000      
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999030524

	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.  

	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Senior Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Fred Eichorn		Chairperson	
	Ms. Karol A. Kennedy		Member	
	Mr. Roger Able		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, in effect, that his record be corrected to reflect two awards of the Purple Heart.  He states he was wounded on 22 February 1969 and 25 June 1969.  In support of his request he submits extracts from the “daily staff journal” of the 198th Infantry Brigade for 22 February 1969, a copy of a 
25-26 June 1969 casualty report, and statements from three former soldiers.  The applicant indicates, in effect, that the awards are needed because he is “being denied benefits.”

3.  Records available to the Board indicate the applicant entered active duty on 
6 February 1968 and served in Vietnam as an Armor Intel Specialist for approximately 13 months.  The exact dates of his assignment in Vietnam are not in available files.

4.  A clinical record sheet, prepared by the 312th Evacuation Hospital on 3 June 1969, notes that the applicant sustained a “hearing loss” to both ears as a result of an explosion on 3 June 1969 at 1603 hours when the “track” the applicant was riding in was hit by enemy recoilless rifle fire.  The injury was attributed to hostile action although the record sheet notes that the 312th Evacuation Hospital did not award the applicant a Purple Heart.  The casualty report, provided by the applicant in support of his request for award of the Purple Heart, confirms the 
3 June 1969 wound.  The report, however, merely records the names of wounded individuals “received in casualty div during the period 0001 25 Jun 69 to 2400 25 Jun 69” but lists the actual dates of the casualties in a separate column.  The date of the applicant was wounded was listed as 3 June 1969.  He was assigned to the 198th Infantry at the time.

5.  The staff journal provided by the applicant indicates that three US soldiers were wounded in action on 22 February 1969 at 1318 hours when a track hit “a possible 105” round.  A subsequent after action report indicated the track vehicle “detonated an unknown type mine.”  The three wounded individuals were evacuated to the 312th Evacuation Hospital.  The report does not contain the names of the three US soldiers who were wounded.

6.  Two of three statements submitted by the applicant in support of his request for award of the Purple Heart for injuries he states he received on 22 February 1969 are dated 28 September 1998 and are identical, including a typographical error and pen and ink changed date.  Two different individuals, however, authenticated the statements.  The statements indicate the authors were members of the applicant’s platoon when the “vehicle we were riding in hit a land mine and we were blown out of it.”  The statements note the applicant “was bleeding from his ears from the concussion and had blood all over him as well as fluid coming out of his ears.  He had shrapnel wounds to his chest and was covered with blood and had a neck injury from being blown out of the ACAV onto his head and neck.”

7.  The third statement is not dated but is from another individual who indicates he was also a member of the applicant’s unit.  He notes only that the applicant and four other individuals were blown “approx. 12 to 15 feet above their armored cavalry assault vehicle” when it hit a land mine.

8.  The applicant was released from active duty on 16 October 1969 as an “overseas returnee.”  His separation document, which he authenticated, does not reflect entitlement to any Purple Hearts.

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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 evidence confirms the applicant was wounded as a result of hostile action on 3 June 1969 and as such is entitled to an award of the Purple Heart for that injury.  Clearly the applicant misread the June 1969 casualty document which confirmed his 3 June 1969 wound.  He apparently assumed that the date of his injury was 25 June 1969 only because that was the date of the casualty report. 

2.  However, the Board does note that there is no medical evidence which confirms the applicant was one of the three US soldiers wounded on 22 February 1969.  The absence of such medical evidence, in spite of the fact that the applicant’s “witness” statements appear to indicate he was apparently more than just slightly wounded, and the fact that the two statements are identical, tends to lessen the impact of those statements.  As such the Board is reluctant to award a second Purple Heart based solely on statements rendered nearly 30 years after the fact which are not confirmed in any medical or other official documentation.

3.  The Board notes that the third statement does not confirm the applicant was wounded nor indicate that the author was an eye witness to the incident.

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 by awarding the individual concerned the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 3 June 1969 as a result of hostile action while in Vietnam.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

___fe___  ____ra__  ___kak__  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		______________________
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999030524	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	20000215	
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.