IN THE CASE OF: 

		BOARD DATE: 18 July 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120022949


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 that during the Tet offensive in 1968 he suffered a shrapnel wound to his right leg.  He was injured at the Widow's Village Massacre.  At the time he did not think the wound was serious enough to merit a Purple Heart.  A month after the injury the shrapnel "worked its way out."  He is now being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and part of the treatment is "recognition of his contribution."

3.  The applicant did not provide any supporting documentation.

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 31 August 1966 for a period of 3 years.  He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty (MOS) 63C (Track Vehicle Mechanic).
 
3.  The applicant's DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows he served in Vietnam from 23 September 1967 to 21 September 1968.  Item 40 (Wounds) is blank and Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not list the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

4.  The applicant was honorably released from active duty on 29 August 1969 at the expiration of his term of service in the rank/grade of specialist four (SP4)/E-4.  He completed 2 years, 11 months, and 29 days of total active service.  The
DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) he was issued at the time does not show award of the Purple Heart.

5.  The applicant's medical records are not available for review.

6.  Review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam casualty listing does not show the applicant's name as a casualty.

7.  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.

8.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states 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 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 Vietnam casualty listing does not contain the applicant's name.

2.  There is no evidence of record and the applicant did not provide any evidence that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action, that he was treated for such wound, or that it was made a matter of official record.  There is no available evidence that shows he met the criteria for award of the Purple Heart.


3.  Regrettably, 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 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)                                         AR20120022949



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ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

 RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS


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