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KIA Vietnam vet denied Purple Heart, need help

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miatabrg91

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Please google "CPL James D. Davis" on Facebook for several articles concerning a 46 year remembrance many members of his unit had for him. Four fellow brothers were kia'd and denied purple hearts under the friendly fire rule. The family thought the medal was missing all these years. I have no idea how to go about correcting this wrong for James, his family and his fellow soldiers families. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank You,

Creig Anderson

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Do you mean for the DD 149 application? They would surely want the death certificate.

I feel the MOPH might be the best place to inquire about this, to see if the regulations I posted have been altered since that regulation became law.

I am sure MOPH has had inquiries similar to yours before.

It states "He was at a night defensive position when artillery rounds by a friendly force landed in the area".

Were their any more details? That does not state that he was killed by friendly fire.But I am sure it was noted in the Morning reports of his UNIT. Does his DD 214 give any info to confirm his death from this?

Other servicemen died as well per your posts. Do you know any of their names?

If their family members could be found and contacted by now maybe some of them were awarded the PH and they could advise on how to do that.

I couldn't find anything at the BVA yet---many decisions popped up but none for DIC denials and none that granted PTSD to any living vet.I used Friendly fire in the search browser.

I just tried GSW friendly fire and not a single decision appeared.

Maybe others here will give it a try.

 

https://www.bva.va.gov/   Click on the decision search feature to the right of the BVA Home page.

 

 

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I don't believe he received a dd 214. His unit has a great website with contact info for most of the unit. 

I know some members are gathering information about this incident. They have traveled from all over the country to do remembrance events for three of these victims, with the last being planed. 

The family only learned of the PH not being awarded due to "friendly fire" in the past year from his unit. Some members were very upset about this, but,

they were told it would be very hard to fight it. The DD 1300 is marked non-battle under casualty  status. His company was engaged in operation Lam Son 719. The previous day Charlie Co. suffered the loss of 1 KIA and 3 WIA, I don't know how you can have "friendly fire" 

in that environment.

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You are right ---they prepare a DD 1300 and not any DD 214....

It will be hard to fight this as I could not find anywhere on line, if the PH criteria has been changed.

Unit Command had to do a full investigation of this incident  but even if you could get those records ,it might not change anything.

In the late 1950s 1960s a DI ordered some USMC boots into a swamp at Camp Lejuene, as part of a training exercize.

4 or 5 of them drowned. I knew a Marine who was there when this happened.

The Marine Corps investigation, he said, revealed that they were "not ordered to die." just ordered to go into the swamp.

Due to the Feres Doctrine the families could not sue for wrongful death and spouses probably could not attain DIC benefits.

The Military is a very dangerous place to be in, even stateside.

 

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Just my 2 cents

if everything you tried to get his PH and failed

 go to the'' Vitual Wall''  find his name and use a pencil and paper and shade his name  in...and present that to the Board that decides if he gets a purple Heart.

Any Soldier'' Killed In Action'' While serving in the RVN  is honored with the Purple Heart.& very well deserving.

 

Here is my brother he made the'' Vitual Wall'' at age 23

http://www.virtualwall.org/df/FoleyWL01a.htm

feel free to click on his profile  for date and location of his death.

My brother would help anyone out at any time give them his last dollar  but he had his own problems  before joining the Marines  he was unsure about his life he  drink a lot and run around and went from job to job, getting in trouble  drinking fighting in Bars ,going to jail  and just lived a careless life, so he decided to'' make something'' of himself and wanted others to look up to him as ''somebody'' that made  difference I always looked up to him and he was my best friend. He was referring to the General Society upper class at the time.

One day he went and see a Marine Recruiter  and joined up, he went to Camp Pendendelton California and he truly loved the Marines , when he came home on leave just before going to Vietnam We had the best time together and he told me all about the Marines and his Basic Trainning and how they made him a Machine Gunner using and caring for the M-60...He trully loved the core and wanted to make a life out of being a Marine  his dream was to become an Drill Instructor and stay in the marines for as long as they would let him, he gave me his Basic Training USMC sweat shirt before he left and I still have that today.

sure I miss him and love him dearly but to me he always was ''somebody'' and I am very proud of him and will be forever grateful for his sacrifice.

And Glad he served in the USMC Proudly.

 

 

Edited by Buck52
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Thank Buck52,

The family does have tracings from the wall, and we have ordered a death certificate. Jim's mother had 11 children. Their father abandoned them, most of the younger children never new him.

Jim was the second oldest and helped hold the family together.  His tragic loss will never be diminished  among his family and friends. The PH is so symbolic of the scale of someone's sacrifice.

They deserve a PH!

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The PH criteria is here:

"b) Individuals wounded or killed as a result of "friendly fire" in the "heat of battle" will be awarded thePurple Heart as long as the "friendly" projectile or agent was released with the full intent of inflicting damage or destroying enemy troops or equipment."

http://www.recognizethesacrifice.org/purple-heart-criteria.html

I posted this here already buy feel it should be posted again to insure it is searchable for others who might need to know it.

 

 

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