IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 15 May 2012 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20110023401 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 correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to add the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states he was wounded in combat during an ambush operation in Vietnam in Summer-Fall 1970. 3. The applicant provides no additional evidence. 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. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 14 May 1969 for a period of 2 years. He served as a light weapons infantryman in Vietnam from 15 October 1969 to 9 October 1970. On 13 May 1971, he was released from active duty and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Annual Training) to complete his remaining service obligation. 3. His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award. 4. There are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records. 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 the Purple Heart. 7. A review of the Adjutant General's Office Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty list does not show the applicant's name as a casualty. 8. 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 U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant. 9. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify 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: 1. The applicant contends he was wounded in combat in Vietnam in 1970. 2. Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards. The Purple Heart requires: * the wound was the result of hostile action * treatment of the wound by military medical personnel * documentation of the wound in official records * orders awarding the decoration 3. There is no evidence of record and the applicant did not provide any evidence that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action in Vietnam. He is not listed on the Vietnam casualty list or in ADCARS and there are no orders for the Purple Heart in the available records. 4. In view of the foregoing, there is an insufficient evidentiary basis for granting the applicant's requested relief. 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 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) AR20110023401 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20110023401 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 1