BOARD DATE: 7 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160002313 BOARD VOTE: _________ _______ ________ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ____x____ ___x_____ ___x_____ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 7 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160002313 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: 1. 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 to amend the decision set forth by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in Docket Number AR20050011767, dated 2 May 2006. 2. The Board wants the applicant and all others to know the sacrifices he made in service to the United States during the Vietnam War are deeply appreciated. The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms. _____________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. BOARD DATE: 7 September 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160002313 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 reconsideration of his request for award of the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states that he was injured during a mortar attack in March of 1969 while serving in Vietnam. During the attack he dove into a bunker and struck his head on the corner of a wooden door. He went to the medical treatment facility where the wound was sutured and bandaged. 3. The applicant provides copies of a medical record, eight photographs, and a letter of support. CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. Incorporated herein by reference are military records which were summarized in the previous consideration of the applicant's case by the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) in Docket Number AR20050011767 on 2 May 2006. 2. The applicant was inducted into the U.S. Army on 29 April 1968. He was awarded military occupational specialty 11C (Infantry Indirect Fire Crewman). 3. He served in the Republic of Vietnam from 20 October 1968 through 8 August 1969. 4. The applicant's DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) shows he was honorably released from active duty on 2 February 1970 and transferred to the U.S. Army Reserve Control Group (Reinforcement). He had completed 1 year, 9 months, and 4 days of net active service this period that included 1 year, 3 months, and 13 days of foreign service. Item 24 (Decorations, Medals, Badges, Commendations, Citations and Campaign Ribbons Awarded or Authorized), as corrected by a DD Form 215 (Correction to DD Form 214), issued on 22 November 2006, does not list the Purple Heart. 5. A thorough review of the applicant's available military personnel records failed to show he was wounded in action. This review also failed to reveal any orders or other evidence showing he was awarded the Purple Heart. 6. A review of The Adjutant General's Office, Casualty Division's Vietnam Casualty Roster failed to reveal the applicant's name, service number, or social security number. 7. A request for 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 Awards and Decorations Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, failed to return award orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant. (Note: The search was conducted using the applicant's name, service number, and social security number.) 8. In support of his application the applicant provides the following documents: a. A Standard Form 600 (Chronological Record of Medical Care), that contains an entry for 10 March 1969, that shows “Headquarters and Company A, 9th Medical Battalion, 9th Infantry Division, check-up Sutures (Head)." b. Eight photographs that show: (1) A Soldier sitting on a large pile of ammunition. The Soldier is dressed in an Army green T-shirt and battle dress uniform pants, and he is wearing a white bandage that covers the front portion of his head and forehead, and extends under the chin. (This photograph was previously submitted by the applicant with his original application.) (2) A photograph of what appears to be a letter (not readable) with the date "6 March 1969, Thursday" written across the photograph. (3) The remaining photographs show the applicant in battle dress uniform and one of the photographs shows him with a fellow Soldier. c. A letter from Janice R. D___ (applicant's spouse), dated 6 January 2016. who stated she reviewed the documentation pertaining to her husband's original request and, after consulting with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) officials, she believes adequate information was not previously provided. (1) She also stated she has been married to the applicant for 43 years and noted his pride for his country. She added that, on numerous occasions, he has discussed the injury he sustained in Vietnam. She recounted, "It was a clear night in base camp when the [Viet Cong], the enemy, engaged in direct contact with mortars. Luckily, there were no casualties; however, several were injured, including [the applicant]. [The applicant] received a head injury which required sutures. According to medical records (enclosed), [the applicant] was seen by a physician who 'checked' his sutures. However, [the applicant] and I feel the medical records we have been given are incomplete. The enclosed copy was obtained by his current physician at the VA Hospital in Charleston, SC." (2) She also commented on the photographs submitted in support of the request for reconsideration (i.e., "proving the injury he incurred during the hostile attack made by the Vietnamese in March, 1969"). She referred to information (i.e., the uniform and his name tag, his bandaged head, and the location/wearing of his watch and ring) that substantiates they are pictures of the applicant. REFERENCES: Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning military awards and decorations. It shows the Purple Heart is awarded to any member who was wounded or killed in action against an enemy or as a result of hostile action. a. A wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force, element, or agent sustained in action in the face of the armed enemy or as a result of a hostile act of such enemy. b. In order to support awarding a member the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish the wound for which the award is being made required treatment by medical personnel and the medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action must have been made a matter of official record. c. The regulation provides examples of injuries or wounds which clearly do not justify award of the Purple Heart that, in pertinent part, shows accidents, to include explosive, aircraft, vehicular, and other accidental wounding or injury not related to or caused by enemy action. DISCUSSION: 1. The evidence of record shows that in order to support an award of the Purple Heart, it is necessary to establish the wound or injury was received in action, the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. 2. The new evidence the applicant submits shows he obtained a copy of his military medical record (showing a follow-up visit) from a VA official. a. The VA is the agency that is currently in possession of the applicant's military medical records. It is not clear why a copy of the medical record for the date the applicant actually sustained the injury/was treated was not provided, as that medical record might offer the requisite information to substantiate a claim to the Purple Heart. b. The medical record provided shows the applicant went to the medical clinic for a follow-up visit after having received sutures for a head injury and the attending medical official checked the sutures. There is no information showing the date of or the cause of the injury/wound. c. The photographs and the letter from his spouse provided in support of his claim were also considered. Even if the contemporaneous letter he provided (dated 6 March 1969) was readable, there is no corroborating medical record. 3. The applicant's military service records do not contain any evidence that he was wounded or injured in action as a result of a hostile act by the enemy or that any such wound or injury required treatment by medical personnel and that the treatment was made a matter of official record. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160002313 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160002313 4 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2