ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS BOARD DATE: 27 September 2019 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20190002769 APPLICANT REQUESTS: correction of his DD Form 214 (Armed Forces of the United States Report of Transfer or Discharge) to show award of the Purple Heart (PH). APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD: * DD Form 149 (Application for Correction of Military Record) * Personal statement * 3 letters of support * Letter from the National Personnel Records Center * National Guard Bureau (NGB) Form 22 (Report of Separation and Record of Service in the Army National of Indiana * Bronze Star Medal (BSM) Orders * BSM Certificate FACTS: 1. The applicant did not file within the three year time frame provided in Title 10, United States Code (USC), section 1552(b); however, the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) 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. The applicant states: a. He did not report his shrapnel injury from combat in Vietnam due to high operation tempo. On 28 April 1969, his team was inserted into their area of operation by way of UH-1 Helicopter. Their mission was to recon the area for enemy activity. The terrain was mostly thick elephant grass and undergrowth. Approximately 30 minutes into the mission, his radio man went down with heat exhaustion. They were able to revive him by pouring canteens of water on him. b. He contacted fixed wing aircraft for extraction. As they returned to the landing zone he had a team member carry the radio. When they returned to the landing zone, they observed and made contact with a small enemy force. When he was crawling to the radio to call for support, he was wounded by shrapnel from an enemy grenade. With the help of gunships, they we able to suppress the enemy and be extracted. He treated the wound himself because he didn’t consider it to be bad enough to go to the medic. He has a scar on his left arm three inches long. 3. The applicant’s available records are void of orders that show he was awarded the PH or that he was wounded as a result of enemy action. 4. During the processing of this case, a member of the Board's staff reviewed the Department of the Army Vietnam casualty roster. There is no entry pertaining to the applicant in this list of Republic of Vietnam casualties. 5. A review of the Awards and Decorations Computer Assisted Retrieval System (ADCARS) failed to reveal any orders awarding the applicant the PH. ADCARS is an index of general orders issued during the Vietnam era between 1965 and 1973 maintained by the Awards and Decorations Branch of the U.S. Army Human Resources Command. 6. The applicant provided three supporting letters from individuals familiar with the incident. a. A letter from B____ V____ states on 28 April 1969 he was on a mission with team RANGER 35. It was very hot and humid that day and as always he was carrying the radio. He remembers feeling dizzy and must have collapsed. The next thing he remembers is the applicant pouring water on him from his canteens. After a brief firefight with the enemy they were extracted back to the company area. On the way back in the chopper he noticed the applicant was bleeding from his forearm. The next day he asked the applicant if he had the medic take care of the wound. The applicant told him it wasn’t that bad and he took care of it on his own. b. A letter from T____ H____ states in part, the 151th Ranger Company dispatched a six-man team for a recon mission to the Province of Bien Hoa. Shortly after offloading, one member of the team became ill with what appeared to be heat exhaustion. A fixed wing aircraft was contacted for immediate extraction of the team member. Contact was made with an enemy force as the team reentered the elephant grass. The injuries or sickness noted during extraction were B____ V____ with an illness, and the applicant who had blood on his left arm obtruding through his uniform. The extraction was successful with the elimination of small arms fire by the rescuing helicopters. c. A letter from D____ W____ states on 28 April 1969 he was in his rack reading a book, when one their guys said Team 3-5 was in contact. They turned the team radio on to listen to the action and learned the radio man had collapsed from heat exhaustion. B____ the radio operator was a friend of his so he went to meet the chopper (Huey) bringing the team back to base camp. While talking with B____ and the rest of the team, he saw that the applicant had a bloody shirt sleeve on his left arm. He asked him to roll up his sleeve so he could check him out. He saw a long gash on the applicant’s forearm. He told him that he needed to see the medic. Later that day he went to check on B____ and the applicant. He asked the applicant if the medic had taken care of his wounded arm. The applicant told him that he bandaged it on his own and it wasn't that bad. He again told him he needed the medic to look at it and the applicant said he didn't have time and that he thought he was ok. 7. Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes the Army's awards policy. Paragraph 2-8 contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to award of the PH. It states that in order to support award of the PH there must be evidence that the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that medical treatment was made a matter of official record. BOARD DISCUSSION: 1. The Board carefully considered the applicant’s request, supporting documents, evidence in the records and published DoD guidance for consideration of discharge upgrade requests. The Board considered the applicant’s statement, his record of service to include service in Vietnam, the statements from fellow Soldiers, the absence of in-service or post-service records showing an injury and the absence of his name on the Department of the Army Vietnam Casualty Roster. The Board found insufficient evidence to show that the applicant had been in a manner that meets the criteria for award of a Purple Heart. Based on a preponderance of evidence, the Board determined that the absence of a Purple Heart in his records was not in error or unjust. 2. After reviewing the application and all supporting documents, the Board found that relief was not warranted. ? 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 for correction of the records of the individual concerned. 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, USC, 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 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 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes the Army's awards policy. Paragraph 2-8 contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to award of the PH. It states that in order to support award of the PH there must be evidence that the wound for which the award is being made was received as a result of enemy action, that the wound required treatment by medical personnel, and that medical treatment was made a matter of official record. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20190002769 4 1