Citation Nr: 18155524
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/04/18

DOCKET NO. 14-28 511
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection diabetes mellitus, to include as result of exposure to herbicides is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from September 1971 to August 1973.
In March 2018, the Board remanded the appeal for further development.  Subsequent to the remand, in an April 2018 rating decision, the issue of entitlement to service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder and unspecified depressive disorder was granted.  As this constitutes a complete grant of the benefit sought, the issue is no longer before the Board.
The Veteran presented testimony before the Board in December 2017.  A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the record.
Entitlement to service connection diabetes mellitus, to include as result of exposure to herbicides is remanded.
The Board finds that additional development is needed prior to final adjudication of the issue on appeal.  Military personnel files indicate that the Veteran was stationed aboard the USS Roark from January 1972 to August 1973.  The Veteran claims that he went ashore in the Republic of Vietnam during this period.  A DPRIS summary of the command report for the USS Roark, states that the “USS Roark was in-port at DaNang for gun repairs, and underway each night from April 27-28, 1972.”  While later descriptions in the DPRIS report suggest that the USS Roark was moored alongside the USS Samuel Gompers, a ship anchored in the harbor, the Board finds the use of the term “in-port” in the summary ambiguous, and would like to review the deck logs firsthand.  Accordingly, upon remand, the Board requests that the actual deck logs for the period from April 27-28, 1972, for both the USS Roark and USS Samuel Gompers, be associated with the claim file.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Contact the appropriate authority, in order to obtain deck logs for April 27 and 28, 1972, for the USS Roark and USS Samuel Gompers.  All attempts to obtain these documents should be included in the claim file.  If any documents could not be obtained, this should be noted in the claim file.
2. If upon completion of the above action the issue is denied, the case should be returned to the Board after compliance with appellate procedures.
 
E. I. VELEZ
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. Foster, Associate Counsel