MEMORANDUM OF CONSIDERATION

	IN THE CASE OF:    

	BOARD DATE:            27 April 1999     
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR1999023949

	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	
	Mr. Kenneth Aucock		Analyst	

  The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. John N. Slone		Chairperson	
	Mr. Raymond V. O'Connor, Jr.		Member	
	Mr. Curtis L. Greenway		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.  

The applicant states he received a shrapnel wound to his left wrist during a mortar attack at his fire base.  He was at the base for four months, and was wounded shortly before he left. 

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 show:

The applicant was inducted into the Army on 3 August 1967, completed training, and was assigned to Vietnam in January 1968 as a textile repairman.  He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service, and in March 1969 he returned to the United States at Oakland, California, where he was released from active duty on 7 March 1969.  He had 1 year, 7 months, and         3 days of service.  His DD Form 214, which he authenticated by signing, does not show award of the Purple Heart.  The applicant’s DA Form 20, Enlisted Qualification Record, does not show that he was wounded in action, nor does it show award of the Purple Heart.

On 13 January 1993 this Board denied the applicant’s request to change his    DD Form 214 to show that he was an infantryman.

There is no evidence in the applicant’s records, nor has the applicant provided any evidence to show that he was wounded in action.

Army Regulation 600-8-22 provides that 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.

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 7 March 1969, the date of his release from active duty.  The time for the applicant to file a request for correction of any error or injustice expired on 7 March 1972.
The application is dated 19 August 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

____jns_  ___rvo__  ___clg_____  CONCUR WITH DETERMINATION

		Loren G. Harrell
		Director

INDEX

CASE ID	AR1999023949	
SUFFIX		
RECON	YYYYMMDD	
DATE BOARDED	19990427	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	(HD, GD, UOTHC, UD, BCD, DD, UNCHAR)	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	YYYYMMDD	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR . . . . .  	
DISCHARGE REASON		
BOARD DECISION	( DENY)	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1. 142.00		
2.  107.00		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.