ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS BOARD DATE: 16 April 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20180000080 APPLICANT REQUESTS: award of the Purple Heart with one Oak Leaf Cluster. APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * Self-authored notes (2 pages) * Letter, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Awards and Decorations Branch, dated 12 December 2017 FACTS: 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 AR20080019263 on 14 April 2009. The request for the Purple Heart was denied because of a lack of evidence. 3. The applicant states he was sewed up twice in an armored personnel carrier. No records of walking wounded were kept. He was not sent to a hospital in Da Nang to be checked because he was mobile and they were under attack. There were 178 people on the compound at Wonder (Utah) Beach surrounded by 5,000 of the enemy. 4. He provided self-authored notes that consist of two pages. He states he has been going through this process for years. He was told all of his records were destroyed. There was no exit physical exam in Vietnam. His original DD Form 214 stated "Purple Heart not issued" followed by a checked box. His original DD Form 214 was destroyed in a house fire, and the copy he ordered was not the same as the original. He was able to find a person that was there when he was wounded and provided a letter from him. He is 100% disabled and does not need the Purple Heart for disability. He earned the Purple Heart at age 17 and 18 and feels he deserves the award. He volunteered to serve. When he entered Vietnam, he served outside of his military occupational specialty (Transportation Movement Specialist - 71N20) as a tunnel rat, recon, and point man. His military occupational specialty was later changed to cargo handler, and at first, hindered his disability because they thought it was for clerks. His x-rays from early 1970 and 1980 at the Veterans Administration at West Palm Beach reads post- traumatic trauma to mid vertebrae. 5. On 1 December 1966, the applicant enlisted in the Regular Army. After completing initial entry training, he was assigned to duty in Vietnam 6. His DA Form 20 (Enlisted Qualification Record) shows in: * Item 38 (Record of Assignments) – he was assigned to duty in Vietnam as a Cargo Handler with the 403rd Transportation Company from 23 October 1967 to 10 October 1968 * Item 40 (Wounds) – no entries * Item 41 (Awards and Decorations) – no entry for the Purple Heart 7. On 19 December 1968, he was honorably discharged to immediately reenlist. The DD Form 214 issued at that time does not show the Purple Heart among his awards. 8. On 20 December 1968, he reenlisted, and served until his discharge on 19 March 1971. The DD Form 214 issued at that time does not show the Purple Heart among his awards. 8. His service medical records are not available for review. 9. His name is not listed on the Vietnam casualty roster. 10. 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 United States Army Human Resources Command, failed to reveal any orders awarding the applicant the Purple Heart. 11. In support of his previous request, he provided the following: a. An undated statement from a former Soldier, who stated a hurricane hit Wonder Beach in Quang Tri Province in the Republic of Vietnam causing waist deep water in their area. They came under attack and were forced back toward the ocean. On another occasion, while in Cam Ranh Bay, they watched as four persons who were being interrogated were thrown from helicopters. Also, at least one of the enemies was hung from a helicopter, flown through the trees, picked up really high, and dropped. This was in 1968. The author also states that the applicant got hit by shrapnel and was sewn up while in an armored personnel carrier at Wonder Beach. b. A letter, dated 1 December 2006, in which the applicant's brother wrote that he had been informed in May 1968 of the applicant being hurt while in the Republic of Vietnam. This letter does not provide any information about how the applicant was hurt. c. Extracts of operational reports that did not show any evidence that the applicant was wounded by enemy action or that he received any medical treatment for wounds. d. A Department of Veterans Affairs medical record, dated 8 April 1997, indicating the applicant has a one-inch scar from a shrapnel fragment wound to his lower back. It does not provide any specifics concerning the circumstances surrounding this injury or if any medical treatment had been rendered. 12. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded for 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, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. BOARD DISCUSSION: After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found the relief was not warranted. The applicant’s contentions and medical concerns were carefully considered. He provided a statement a former Soldier who stated, in effect, the applicant was wounded by shrapnel and sewn up. There was no specific date of the incident nor corroborating evidence. There is no medical record showing the applicant received wounds, on two occasions, caused by enemy forces that required treatment by medical personnel. The Board agreed the statements from his sibling and the witness is insufficient evidence to grant relief. BOARD VOTE: Mbr 1 Mbr 2 Mbr 3 : : : GRANT FULL RELIEF : : : GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF : : : GRANT FORMAL HEARING :X :X :X DENY APPLICATION ? 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 AR20080019263 on 14 April 2009. 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. ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE(S): not applicable. REFERENCES: Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) states the Purple Heart is awarded to any member who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the Army Services, has been wounded or killed or who has died or may hereafter die after being wounded: a. In any action against an enemy of the United States; b. In any action with an opposing armed force of a foreign country in which the Armed Forces of the United States are or have been engaged; c. While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party; d. As a result of an act of any such enemy of opposing armed forces; e. As a result of an act of any hostile foreign force; f. After 23 March 1973, as a result of an international terrorist attack against the United States or a foreign nation friendly to the United States, recognized as such an attack by the Secretary of the Army, or jointly by the Secretaries of the separate armed services concerned if persons from more than one service are wounded in the attack; g. After 28 March 1973, as a result of military operations while serving outside the territory of the United States as part of a peacekeeping force; or h. Members killed or wounded by friendly fire. Substantiating evidence must be provided to verify that the wound was the result of hostile action, the wound must have required treatment by a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20180000080 2 1