IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:	  8 October 2013

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20130002864 


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 the medic was killed by mortar rounds later the same day.

3.  The applicant provides:

* Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Form 21-4138 (Statement in Support of Claim)
* magazine article excerpt
* 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.  Having prior active enlisted service in the Regular Army, the applicant was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve on 14 September 1967 with concurrent order to active duty.  He served as an infantry officer (parachutist) in Vietnam from 14 February 1968 to 20 March 1969.  On 13 September 1969, he was released from active duty in the rank of first lieutenant.

3.  His DD Form 214 does not show the Purple Heart as an authorized award.

4.  There is no evidence in the available records which shows the applicant was awarded the Purple Heart or was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.

5.  His name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster.

6.  A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer-Assisted Retrieval System, an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command Military Awards Branch, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant.

7.  He provides a VA Form 21-4138, dated 4 December 2012, wherein he states:

* he received shrapnel in his right elbow
* while serving as platoon leader during a search mission on 12 October 1968, the company was met with small arms fire and grenades
* he was wounded during the fire barrage
* the company senior medic and two Soldiers were killed
* "an account of these events is on page 39 of the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, dated February 1968-March 1969"

8.  He provides an excerpt from a magazine article describing a rescue operation in support of Operation Golden Sword in Vietnam.  The article states, "Only moments after the base camp was found, a platoon from Company C, 
2-505 Infantry, led by Lieutenant K____ B____ [the applicant], located the helicopter wreckage in the valley."

9.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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 military 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 by small arms fire and grenades on 12 October 1968 in Vietnam.

2.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 establishes basic requirements for the Purple Heart and all other awards.  The Purple Heart requires evidence to verify:

* the wound was the result of hostile action
* treatment of the wound by medical personnel
* documentation of the wound in official records

3.  There is no evidence in the available records that shows he was wounded as a result of hostile action in Vietnam.  Regrettably, there is insufficient evidence to support award of 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 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)                                         AR20130002864



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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20130002864



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