BOARD DATE: 5 September 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170003324 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: 5 September 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170003324 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. BOARD DATE: 5 September 2018 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170003324 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, the widow of a deceased former service member (FSM), requests correction of the FSM's record to show his award of the Purple Heart. 2. She states: a. While driving in the car with her late husband, they saw a licensed plate that read Combat Wounded Purple Heart and the FSM commented that he could have had that same license plate. She asked him what he meant by his comment and he told her that he should have received the Purple Heart. He proceeded to tell her that he, along with other Soldiers, had turned down the Purple Heart. When asked why, the FSM stated that a guy working in the kitchen was awarded the Purple Heart for cutting his finger with a knife. b. He went on to tell her that he was driving in a convoy when the lead truck either hit a land mine or got hit by a grenade. It caused the truck the FSM was driving to crash. He sustained a fractured left foot and he had some shrapnel in his left arm. Thirty-seven years ago, he slipped on an icy ladder at work. He fell fourteen feet and fractured his left foot. They saw two doctors and the FSM told each physician how he fractured his foot in Vietnam. Both doctors told him that it had not been properly set at the time of the original injury. She has no proof and the FSM died of a rare form of lung cancer caused by his exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam. 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 FSM was inducted in the Army of the United States on 18 October 1966. He completed training and he was awarded military occupational specialty 72B (Communications Center Specialist). 3. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in: * item 31 (Foreign Service) – he was credited with service in Vietnam from 13 October 1967 through his expiration term of service (ETS) * item 40 (Wounds) – no entry indicating he was wounded as a result of hostile action * item 41 (Awards and Decorations) – no entry for the Purple Heart 4. His record contains Chronological Record of Medical Care. Medical notes entered on August 1968, state "Patient was on the roof watching when he decided to run to a bunker and felt (sic) on top of a sandbag hurting his right ankle." The FSM was diagnosed with a sprained ankle and his injury was bandaged. 5. He underwent a separation physical wherein he listed his health as good and did not report any combat injuries. On 8 October 1968, he was honorably released from active duty. 6. His record is void of documentation showing he sustained a fractured left foot as the result of hostile action. 7. A review of his record failed to reveal orders awarding him the Purple Heart and his name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster. 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 Purple Heart orders pertaining to the applicant. REFERENCES: 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: 1. The criteria for the Purple Heart require the submission of substantiating evidence to verify the injury/wound was the result of hostile action, the injury/wound required medical treatment by medical personnel, and the medical treatment was made a matter of official record. 2. The available evidence does not show the FSM was wounded or injured as a result of enemy action during his service in Vietnam and his record is void of orders awarding him the Purple Heart. Further, he did not list any injuries on his separation physical and his name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170003324 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20170003324 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2