ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 23 April 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170011399 APPLICANT REQUESTS: Award of the Purple Heart (PH) (2nd and 3rd Awards). APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) FACTS 1. The applicant did not file within the three year time frame provided in Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552 (b); however, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records conducted a substantive review of this case and determined it is in the interest of justice to excuse the applicant's failure to timely file. 2. On 10 March 1968 the applicant was assigned to the 123rd Aviation Battalion in Vietnam until to 7 March 1969. 3. On 27 September 1968 he was admitted to Headquarters, 27th Surgical Hospital after receiving a fragment wound to his left shoulder and a gunshot wound to his right leg; he was awarded the PH while there. 4. The applicant’s name only appears once on the Vietnam casualty list for the award shown in his records. No more than one award will be made for more than one wound or injury received at the same instant and there are no other entries in the applicant's records indicating he was wounded any other time since 27 September 1968 as a result of hostile action. BOARD DISCUSSION After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board determined that relief was not warranted. Based upon a lack of evidence presented by the applicant to support the awarding of a second or third Purple Heart, the Board concluded that relief was not appropriate. Per the regulatory guidance on awarding the Purple Heart, the applicant must provide or have in his service records substantiating evidence to verify that he was injured, 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. Based upon the applicant failing to provide any evidence to show the regulatory requirements for a second and third Purple Heart was met, the Board recommended denying the applicant’s request. BOARD VOTE Member 1 Member 2 Member 3 : : : Full Grant : : : Partial Grant : : : Formal Hearing Grant X X X Deny 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. 4/25/2019 X CHAIRPERSON Signed by: 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. REFERENCES 1. Title 10, U.S. Code, section 1552(b), provides that applications for correction of military records must be filed within three 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 three-year statute of limitations if the ABCMR determines it would be in the interest of justice to do so. 2. 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. 3. Army Regulation 672-5-1 (Military Awards), then in effect, prescribed Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards. The Purple Heart was awarded to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services had been wounded, killed, or who had died as a result of a wound sustained 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. 4. 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. It is authorized for the first wound suffered under conditions indicated above; for each subsequent award an oak leaf cluster will be awarded to be worn on the medal or ribbon. No more than one award will be made for more than one wound or injury received at the same instant or from the same missile, force, explosion, or agent.