BOARD DATE: 26 April 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160008146 BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 : : : 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: 26 April 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160008146 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 earlier request to be awarded the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states a. He joined around February 1968 from Philadelphia, PA. He was a member of a minority gang from the city, and having been hardened by gang life, he joined the military. Throughout basic and advanced training, he was sought out to do the rough things. They just assumed he was a good shot, and training with pugil sticks was always “get the guy from the city” because he fought a lot. He arrived in Vietnam on his birthday and he was assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Later, he was assigned to the 179th Military Intelligence Detachment. He was the only minority enlisted person in the group. There was a major and a chief warrant officer. b. One night in the first quarter of his assignment, they were watching a movie outside. Then mortars started coming in at Camp Frenzell Jones. They all left, running inside the nearest bunker. The projector was still running showing the movie. He was new, and not knowing what to do, he followed the running men. They were all in the bunker when someone said the light from the projector would let the Viet Cong know just where to place the mortars. He was the only minority in the bunker and was told to go out and unplug the projector. He said okay, because he felt nothing could harm him. So he ran out and unplugged the projector. On the way coming back, a piece of shrapnel hit his right leg and cut it. When he returned, he told them nothing happened to him. He said he was dodging bullets just like in the city. Everyone laughed, but now he was part of the group. When he returned to his bunk, he checked and his thigh had a cut about two inches long. His thigh was cut, but there was no blood. Not wanting to let the guys know what happened to him, he told no one and just let it heal itself. c. Later one of the guys found out and related the incident to the major. He called him in a looked at the wound and told him he should have reported this incident. He gave him an Army Commendation Medal for going out and turning off the projector. d. It has been more than 40 years and he is now seeking recognition for his wound. They say everyone has their fifteen minutes of fame in their life. This was his 15 minutes of fame and he is asking the Board to recognize his wound after all these years. He is 68 and would very much appreciate this. His grandson of 13 years is seeking knowledge of what his grandpa did in the war. He wants to tell him this story and he would like to show him the award he received for helping our country that he loves so much. 3. The applicant provides a Report of Medical Examination and two photographs. 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 AR20150004085 on 17 November 2015. 2. The applicant provides a new argument which warrants consideration by the Board. 3. The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 22 January 1968 and he held military occupational specialty 71L (Administrative Specialist). 4. He served in Vietnam from 14 January 1969 to 13 January 1970. He was assigned to the 179th Military Intelligence Detachment, 199th Light Infantry Brigade (Separate). 5. He was honorably released from active duty on 21 January 1971. His DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) does not show the Purple Heart. It shows he was awarded or authorized the: * National Defense Service Medal * Vietnam Service Medal * Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with 1960 Device * Marksman Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-14) * Army Commendation Medal * Army Commendation Medal (1st Oak Leaf Cluster) * Expert Marksmanship Qualification Badge with Rifle Bar (M-16) * One overseas service bar 6. He provides: a. Two photographs of someone's arm or leg with a quarter taped to it. b. Report of Medical Examination, dated 20 November 1970, that shows he qualified for duty. The front page lists a scar to the right leg. 7. There is no evidence of record in several typical sources that shows he was injured or wounded as a result of hostile action or that he was awarded the Purple Heart: a. His available medical records do not list any injuries as a result of hostile action or treatment of such injuries. b. Item 40 (Wounds) of his DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) does not show a combat wound or injury and item 41 (Awards and Decorations) does not show the Purple Heart. c. His personnel records do not contain an official Army message or a Western Union telegram notifying his next of kin of an injury or wound sustained in action. This was the proper notification procedure for injuries at the time. d. His name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty listing. This is a listing of Vietnam era casualties commonly used to verify entitlement to award of the Purple Heart. e. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System maintained by the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, which is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973, failed to reveal any orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant. REFERENCES 1. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained while in action against and enemy or 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. 2. U.S. Army Vietnam Regulation 672-1 (Decorations and Awards) stated the authority to award the Purple Heart was delegated to hospital commanders. It directed that all personnel treated and released within 24 hours would be awarded the Purple Heart by the organization to which the individual was assigned. Personnel requiring hospitalization in excess of 24 hours or evacuation from Vietnam would be awarded the Purple Heart directly by the hospital commander rendering treatment. 3. Army Regulation 600-200 (Enlisted Personnel Management System), chapter 9, stated a brief description of wounds or injuries (including injury from gas) requiring medical treatment received through hostile or enemy action, including those requiring hospitalization would be entered in item 40 of the DA Form 20. This regulation further stated the date the wound or injury occurred would also be placed in item 40. DISCUSSION: 1. The criteria for award of the Purple Heart requires the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound must have required treatment by personnel, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. 2. In this case, the applicant's name is not shown on the Vietnam casualty roster, his DA Form 20 does not show he was wounded in action, his available medical records do not list any injuries as a result of hostile action or treatment of such injuries, his record is void of any official Army correspondence or Western Union telegrams, and there is no conclusive evidence in his service personnel records that shows he was wounded or injured as a result of hostile action or treated for such wounds BOARD DATE: 26 April 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160008146 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 to amend the decision of the ABCMR set forth in Docket Number AR20150004085 on 17 November 2015. 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. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160008146 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160008146 3 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2