MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:   

	BOARD DATE:        25 November 1998      
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AC98-11805

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the record of consideration of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Loren G. Harrell		Director	
	Ms. Deborah L. Brantley		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. James E. Vick		Chairperson	
	Mr. John N. Slone		Member	
	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Member	

	The Board, established pursuant to authority contained in 10 U.S.C. 1552, convened at the call of the Chairperson on the above date.  In accordance with Army Regulation 15-185, the application and the available military records pertinent to the corrective action requested were reviewed to determine whether the application was filed within the time established by statute, and if not, whether it would be in the interest of justice to waive the failure to timely file.

	The applicant requests correction of military records as stated in the application to the Board and as restated herein.

The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A - Application for correction of military records
	Exhibit B - Military Personnel Records (including advisory opinion,
	if any)

APPLICANT REQUESTS:  Award of the Purple Heart.  He states he sustained shrapnel wounds to the left side of his face, hand and forearm in May 1953 while in Korea.  The applicant notes that he was recently diagnosed with PTSD and is just now remembering all the “things that happened” in Korea.

PURPOSE:  To determine whether the application was submitted within the time limit established by law, and if not, whether it is in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to timely file.

EVIDENCE OF RECORD:  The applicant's military records were apparently lost or destroyed during the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center.  Information contained herein was reconstructed from alternative sources, including documents provided by the applicant.

He entered active duty on 21 March 1952 and served nearly 13 months in Korea.  He was released from active duty on 20 March 1954 at Fort Riley, Kansas.  His DD Form 214 (report of separation), which he authenticated, does not reflect entitlement to the Purple Heart and item 29 (wounds received as a result of action with enemy forces) reflects “NONE.”

Subsequent to his separation, in 1995, he was granted a 50 percent disability rating by the VA for PTSD but denied service connection for “scars on the left arm and left face....”

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides, in pertinent part, that the Purple Heart is awarded for wounds 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 a medical officer, and the medical treatment must have been made a matter of official record.  There is no evidence, nor has the applicant provided any, which confirms he was wounded as a result of hostile action during the Korean War.

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.  Failure to file within 3 years may be excused by a correction board if it finds it would be in the interest of justice to do so.

DISCUSSION:  The alleged error or injustice was, or with reasonable diligence should have been discovered on 20 March 1954, the date he was released from active duty and authenticated his separation document.  The time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 
20 March 1957.
The application is dated 19 September 1997 and the applicant has not explained or otherwise satisfactorily demonstrated by competent evidence that it would be in the interest of justice to excuse the failure to apply within the time allotted.

DETERMINATION:  The subject application was not submitted within the time required.  The applicant has not presented and the records do not contain sufficient justification to conclude that it would be in the interest of justice to grant the relief requested or to excuse the failure to file within the time prescribed by law.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  EXCUSE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___jrv__  ___jns__  __rvo___  CONCUR WITH DETERMINATION

		Loren G. Harrell
		Director