Citation Nr: 18156448 Decision Date: 12/11/18 Archive Date: 12/10/18 DOCKET NO. 16-54 108 DATE: December 11, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma to include as due to exposure to herbicides and chemical exposures is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active service from March 1972 to March 1975. The Veteran asserts two theories of entitlement to service connection for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. First, he contends that it is the result of exposure to herbicide agents while on the U.S.S. Carpenter in the Western Pacific. Second, he believes he may have been exposed to chemicals, and/or radiation while stationed at Hunters Point Shipyard. Service connection may be granted on a presumptive basis for certain diseases, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, even though there is no record of such disease during service, if they manifest to a compensable degree any time after service, in a veteran who had active military, naval, or air service for at least 90 days, during the period beginning on January 9, 1962 and ending on May 7, 1975, in the Republic of Vietnam, including the waters offshore, and other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in Vietnam. 38 U.S.C. § 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(e), 3.313. Regarding this claim, the Veteran asserts that his ship, the USS Carpenter, was in the official waters of the Republic of Vietnam and therefore he was exposed to herbicides which caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. To support this assertion, the Veteran has submitted a “ Major Events Log ” for the USS Carpenter that shows an entry indicating that the ship was deployed to West Pac-Viet Nam from July 1973 to August 1973. The Veteran’s service records show that he served on the USS Carpenter from July 1972 to March 1975. VA maintains a list entitled: “Navy and Coast Guard Ships Associated with Service in Vietnam and Exposure to Herbicide Agents” which indicates that the USS Carpenter sent a medical team ashore to Song Tra Village on December 20, 1968. Here, the Board notes that this incident took place four years prior the Veteran’s being assigned to the USS Carpenter, therefore it is factually impossible that he was aboard the ship during the limited time in which the ship is acknowledged to have operated in the inland waters of the Republic of Vietnam. Additionally, a review of the ships history shows that during the Veteran’s service, from 1972 to 1976, the ship traveled to Yokosuka, Japan; Sasebo, Japan; Taiwan; Guam; and Midway. There is simple no evidence to show that the Veteran had service in the Republic of Vietnam or in the official waters of the Republic of Vietnam during service. Therefore, the Board finds that the Veteran is not presumed to have had exposure to herbicides by virtue of proximity to Vietnam. The Veteran’s second theory of entitlement is that exposure to chemicals and radiation while stationed at Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco California. To support this assertion the Veteran has submitted news articles with highlighted sections noting radiological compounds and chemicals being used, and disposed of, in the shipyard for many years prior to the Veteran being stationed at the shipyard. Service personnel records show that the Veteran was stationed at Hunters Point Shipyard from August 27, 1972 to September 26, 1972. The Board finds that additional development must be conducted before the Veteran’s claim can be adjudicated. On remand, the AOJ, should conduct development to if the Veteran was exposed to chemicals and radiation while assigned to Hunters Point Shipyard, including obtaining a dose estimate. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Conduct any development necessary to determine if the Veteran was exposed to chemicals and/or radiation while stationed at Hunters Point Shipyard between August 27, 1972 and September 26, 1972, to include obtaining a radiation dose estimate pursuant to 38 C.F.R. 3.311. 2. Then, if it is determined the Veteran was exposed to chemicals and/or radiation at Hunters Point Shipyard, schedule a VA examination to determine whether it is as least as likely as not (50 percent probability or more) that his non-Hodgkins lymphoma was caused by contaminant exposures while stationed at Hunters Point Shipyard for a month in 1972. Why or why not? MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Dworkin, Associate Counsel