PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:  

	BOARD DATE:           10 July 2003                  
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2002076925

	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. G. E. Vandenberg		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Roger W. Able		Chairperson	
	Mr. Larry C. Bergquist		Member	
	Ms. Barbara J. Ellis		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 previous application to correct his military records by awarding him the Purple Heart.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that his medical records show that he received a wound to his left calf that warrants award of the Purple Heart.  He states that he did not discover that the Board did not have his medical records until after the prior Board’s decision.

4.  Incorporated herein by reference are military records, which were summarized in the decisional document prepared to reflect the Board's previous consideration of the case (AR2002067590) on 16 April 2002.

5.  The applicant submits four pages from his service medical records currently held by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  A Standard Form (SF) 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care) shows that a physician admitted the applicant to Ward 4 of the 67th Evacuation Hospital for surgical removal of shrapnel fragment from his leg.  A SF 519A (Radiological Report) shows no fracture but fragments in the applicant’s left leg. A second SF 600 shows that the applicant had been admitted on 11 June 1969 for treatment of infections from “frag wounds l (left) calf”.  It also noted that the applicant was discharged to duty on 15 June 1969.

6.  The historical files at the National Archives College Park, Maryland, for the applicant’s unit, Headquarters and Headquarters Company 937th Engineering Group during Vietnam were reviewed.  That review failed to identify the applicant by name as being awarded the Purple Heart.  However, the after action reports show that four soldiers transferred to an evacuation hospital, on 11 June 1969, for medical care following enemy action and there was no indication of any injuries not arising from enemy action.

7.  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.  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 Board finds that the applicant sustained sufficiently serious wounds that required he be transferred to the 67th Evacuation Hospital for surgical removal of fragments from his leg on 11 June 1969. 

2.  Although the records of the applicant’s unit do not specifically name him as having sustained wounds it does show that four soldiers were evacuated for wounds sustained on 11 June 1969.  

3.  The Board concludes that the fact that four soldiers, from the applicant’s unit, were wounded and sent to an evacuation hospital, taken with the applicant’s medical records, showing surgical treatment on the same date, that the evidence supports the applicant’s contention that he was wounded as a result of hostile action.

4.  Therefore, the Board concludes that the applicant is entitled to award of the Purple Heart for wounds sustained on 11 June 1969.

5.  In view of the foregoing findings and conclusions, correcting the applicant’s records as recommended below will correct an error.

RECOMMENDATION:

That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by showing that the individual concerned was wounded on 11 June 1969 and is awarded the Purple Heart.

BOARD VOTE:  

__rwa___  __lcb ___  __bje ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_     _Roger W. Able___
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2002076925	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	20030710	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE		
DATE OF DISCHARGE		
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY		
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1.	107.0 15	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.