IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 16 February 2012 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110014596 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states in July 1968 they received incoming rocket fire. He went to the bunker but before they received the all clear signal the bunker collapsed. He was evacuated to Chu Lai by helicopter and sent to Cam Ranh Bay for medical treatment lasting about 6 weeks. He returned to Chu Lai and he was processed out of the Army. 3. The applicant provides: * Standard Form (SF) 88 (Report of Medical Examination), dated 11 August 1966 * SF 89 (Report of Medical History), dated 14 September 1968 * his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within 3 years after discovery of the alleged error or injustice. This provision of law also allows the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to excuse an applicant’s failure to timely file within the 3-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. While it appears the applicant did not file within the time frame provided in the statute of limitations, the ABCMR has elected to conduct a substantive review of this case and, only to the extent relief, if any, is granted, has determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant’s failure to timely file. In all other respects, there are insufficient bases to waive the statute of limitations for timely filing. 2. He was inducted into the Army of the United States on 28 October 1966. He completed basic combat and advanced individual training and was awarded military occupational specialty 12C (Bridge Specialist). 3. He served in the Republic of Vietnam with the 26th Engineer Battalion from 28 December 1967 to 10 September 1968. 4. On 14 September 1968, he was released from active duty. He completed 1 year, 10 months, and 15 days of active service that was characterized as honorable. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized) of his DD Form 214 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart. 5. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) is blank. 6. Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) of his DA Form 20 does not show award of the Purple Heart. 7. His service medical records were not available for review. His SF 89, dated 14 September 1968, indicates he suffered a broken collar bone in 1968 in the Republic of Vietnam. However, there is no indication of how he broke his collar bone or that it was a result of enemy action. 8. His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty listing. 9. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS), an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Military Awards Branch of the United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders awarding him the Purple Heart. 10. Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), chapter 9, of the version in effect at the time, stated that a brief description of wounds or injuries (including injury from gas) requiring medical treatment that were received through hostile or enemy action, including those requiring hospitalization, would be entered in item 40 of the DA Form 20. 11. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), then in effect, provided that the Purple Heart was awarded to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services had been wounded, killed, or who had died as a result of a wound 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 medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: His SF 89 does not indicate he broke his collar bone as a result of enemy action. Item 40 of his DA Form 20 contains no entries and his name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty listing. Therefore, in the absence of evidence showing he was wounded as result of hostile action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment was made a matter of official record there is an insufficient basis to award the Purple Heart in this case. BOARD VOTE: ________ ________ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ____x___ ____x___ ____x___ DENY APPLICATION BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice. Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned. _______ _ _x______ ___ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110014596 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110014596 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1