Citation Nr: 0812919 Decision Date: 04/18/08 Archive Date: 05/01/08 DOCKET NO. 06-15 468 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Winston- Salem, North Carolina THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD B.W. Hennings, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from March 1966 to February 1968, including service in the Republic of Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2005 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina which denied the benefit sought on appeal. The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant if further action is required. REMAND The veteran asserts that he has PTSD due to his service in Vietnam. In a September 2005 statement, the veteran reported stressors of his unit coming under attack from sniper fire. The veteran reported that many soldiers in his unit were killed in these attacks and that the sniper fire was so bad that bulldozers were used to mow down trees that concealed the snipers. At one point a Captain had his unit stand down after a fellow soldier was killed by a sniper. The veteran named this comrade who had been killed. The RO contacted the Marine Corps University Archive Center and received confirmation of this death, but the RO noted that the veteran and dead comrade were in different units of the 7th Engineering Battalion. An attempt should be made to determine if the veteran's unit and the dead comrade's unit were together on May 13, 1967. In April 2005, the veteran received a diagnosis of chronic PTSD and chronic major depression from a private medical doctor. The statement from that doctor indicated that the veteran began having nightmares in 1968 and currently has nightmares three to four times a week. The Board also notes that the private medical statement submitted contains information that the veteran is receiving 100 percent disability benefits from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The RO has not attempted to obtain records from the SSA. VA has an obligation to obtain records from the SSA. See e.g., Murincsak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 363 (1992), Hayes v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 67, 74 (1996). Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The RO should contact the veteran and request the names, addresses, and dates of treatment or examination, of all health care providers who have provided him psychiatric treatment. After obtaining any necessary authorizations from the veteran, the RO should request copies of the records of such identified treatment or examinations. 2. Obtain records from the Social Security Administration concerning the veteran's award of disability benefits and the medical records on which it is based. 3. The RO should attempt to verify whether the veteran's unit (CoB, 7th EngrBn (Rein)) was working with the named dead comrade's unit (3d Bridge Company 7th EngrBn 1st MarDiv) on May 13, 1967. The RO should also attempt to obtain the command chronology of the veteran's unit for the month of May 1967. 4. If a stressor is verified, schedule the veteran for an examination to ascertain the nature of all psychiatric disability(ies) present and the proper diagnosis(es) thereof, specifically to include whether PTSD is present. Appropriate psychological testing should be accomplished. If PTSD is diagnosed, the examiner must specify for the record the stressor relied upon to support the diagnosis. The report of examination should include the complete rationale for all opinions expressed. The claims file must be made available to the examiner for review. 5. When the above actions have been accomplished, readjudicate the claim and issue a supplemental statement of the case. Then afford the veteran and his representative the requisite opportunity to respond before the claims folder is returned to the Board for further appellate action. The appellant has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2007). _________________________________________________ MARY GALLAGHER Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2007).