PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            2 April 2002
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2001064776

	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. Jessie B. Strickland		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Walter T. Morrison		Chairperson	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		Member	
	Ms. Regan K. Smith		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.

3.  The applicant states that he was injured on active duty when his shoulder was dislocated while engaged with the enemy snipers in Vietnam.  He also states that he was treated by a medic and was offered a Purple Heart.

4.  The applicant’s military records show that he was inducted on 16 October 1967.  He completed his training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and was transferred to Vietnam on 16 April 1968, where he was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry for duty as a light weapons infantryman.  He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) on 8 May 1968.

5.  On 27 September 1968, he was transferred to a hospital in Okinawa where he received surgery for a recurring dislocating shoulder that had first surfaced while in infantry training in February 1968. 

6.  He was transferred to Fort Hood, Texas on 11 April 1969 and remained on active duty until 8 September 1969, when he was honorably released from active duty early, to attend college.  He had served 1 year, 10 months and 23 days of total active service and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze service stars, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the CIB.

7.  A review of the available records fails to show that he received any wounds or injuries while engaged with an enemy force.

8.  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.

9.  Department of the Army Pamphlet 672-3 (Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit Register-Vietnam Era) was published to assist commanders and personnel officers in determining or establishing the eligibility of individual members for campaign participation credit, assault landing credit, and unit citation badges awarded during the Vietnam Conflict.  

10.  Table 1 (Army Units in Numerical Order) of the pamphlet indicates that the applicant’s unit was subsequently awarded the Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm (RVNGC w/Palm) Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class (RVNCAHM-FC) Unit Citation for the period he served with that unit. 

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The evidence of record fails to clearly show that the applicant was wounded/injured as a result of enemy action, in fact, the evidence shows that he initially injured himself during his infantry training and that his surgery was the result of recurring dislocations.  Therefore, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, there is no basis for the Board to award him the Purple Heart.

2.  However, after his departure from Vietnam, his unit was subsequently awarded the PUC, the RVNGC w/Palm Unit Citation and the RVNCAHM-FC Unit Citation.  Therefore, it would be in the interest of justice to award him those awards at this time and correct his records accordingly. 

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 awarding the individual concerned the PUC, the RVNGC w/Palm Unit Citation and the RVNCAHM-FC Unit Citation, with appropriate corrections being made to his records as well.

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

BOARD VOTE:  

___wtm__  ___rks __  ___clg __  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		____Walter T. Morrison____
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2001064776	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	2002/04/02	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT PARTIAL	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.  61	107.0015/PH	
2.  139	107.0093/PUC	
3.  140	107.0094/RVNGC	
4.  141	107.0095/RVNCAHM	
5.		
6.