IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 4 January 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170013068 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 1. IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 4 January 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170013068 APPLICANT'S REQUEST AND STATEMENT: 1. The applicant requests award of the Purple Heart. 2. The applicant states: a. He sustained injuries during combat operations in the Republic of Vietnam. b. On the night of 26-27 May 1970, in response to a report of enemy presence outside their security perimeter, a mortar unit on Fire Support Base Veghel initiated a fire mission against the enemy position. One or two of these mortars did not reach their intended target and instead struck a munitions and explosives storage area located near their unit's position, causing the area to be engulfed in flames. These munitions were stored in an uncovered ditch. c. According to other reports of this incident, the munitions area contained over 7000 pounds of military explosives, 40 cases of hand grenades, and various quantities of other ammunition and explosives. He was working with others to extinguish the flames when the munitions exploded. The force of the explosion threw him a considerable distance and his recollections of the immediate aftermath are unclear. Two men were killed and others wounded, in addition to him. d. He was medically evacuated on 27 May 1970 to an in-country hospital in Danang. He was diagnosed with traumatic perforation of left tympanic membrane. He was returned to limited duty in Vietnam to see if the eardrum would heal itself. e. He was medically evacuated on 19 July 1970 to the military hospital at Camp Zama, Japan. His membrane was surgically repaired on 23 July 1970 (left temporalis fascia myringoplasty). Enclosure 2 f. In March 1971, a "shiny pearly mass" was discovered on the tympanic membrane at Walter Reed Army Hospital. This was surgically removed on 2 March 1971. In the spring of 1976, another growth was found on the membrane during examination at the Philadelphia Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. The attending physician was able to remove this growth non-surgically. THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records with supporting document(s): * two third-party witness statements * Bronze Star Medal (BSM) citation 2. Evidence from the applicant’s service record and Department of the Army and Department of Defense records and systems: * DA Form 66 (Officer Qualification Record) * Standard Form (SF) 89 (Report of Medical History) * DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge REFERENCES: 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. 2. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual and unit military awards. This regulation provides that the Purple Heart is awarded for a wound sustained 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. When contemplating an award of the Purple Heart, the key issue commanders must take into consideration is the degree to which the enemy caused the injury. 1. DISCUSSION: 1. While 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 applicant entered active duty as a commissioned officer on 1 April 1969, with duties as a combat engineer. 3. His DA Form 66 shows in: * item 17 (Foreign Service), he served in the Republic of Vietnam from on or about 1 January through on or about 19 July 1970 * item 18 (Record of Assignments), he was reassigned from the Republic of Vietnam to the U.S. Army Hospital, Camp Zama, Japan on 19 July 1970, in a patient status * item 21 (Awards and Decorations), the absence of an entry that indicates he was awarded the Purple Heart 4. The applicant's record contain an SF 89 that shows he underwent a medical examination in connection with his release from active duty. This form shows the applicant sustained a left ear perforation of tympanum in Vietnam. 5. The applicant was released from active duty on 31 March 1971. His DD Form 214 does not show he was awarded the Purple Heart. 6. The applicant's name does not appear on the Vietnam casualty roster. 7. 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 orders for the Purple Heart pertaining to the applicant. 8. The applicant provides: a. Two third-party witness statements, provided by former members of his unit in Vietnam, that attest to the applicant's recollection of events that occurred on 27 May 1970. a. b. A BSM citation that shows he was awarded the BSM for meritorious achievement in connection with military ground operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, during the period 8 January through 1 July 1970. He pointed out the statement: "Following an injury sustained while constructing an access road to the newly established Fire Support Base Veghel he became Assistant S-3." //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE CASE OF: BOARD DATE: 4 January 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20170013068 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. 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. Enclosure 1