Citation Nr: 18161152 Decision Date: 12/28/18 Archive Date: 12/28/18 DOCKET NO. 14-18 958 DATE: December 28, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, his PTSD is at least as likely as not related to a credible in-service stressor. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for PTSD have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1976 to May 1985. The case was previously before the Board in November 2015 when it was remanded for additional development. The Board finds there has been substantial compliance with the remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The Veteran contends that he has PTSD due to discovering the body of a soldier who had committed suicide while in service. Service connection for PTSD requires medical evidence diagnosing the condition in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 4.125 (a); a link, established by medical evidence, between current symptoms and an in-service stressor; and credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor occurred. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304 (f). The Board concludes, in providing the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, that he has a current diagnosis of PTSD that is related to a credible in-service stressor. The Veteran’s VA treatment record reflects he has had PTSD diagnosed under both the DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria, in September 2009 and in December 2013. Those diagnoses cited the Veteran’s witnessing a suicide as the stressor. The Veteran asserts that his PTSD is related to an in-service event, where he discovered the body of a soldier who had committed suicide at Ft. Hunter Liggett in California between November 1984 and May 1985. In his October 2011 Notice of Disagreement the Veteran provided more details, specifying that he discovered the body of serviceman W.F.W. on October [redacted], 1984. A military investigation report reflects that serviceman W.F.W. died on October [redacted], 1984 of a gunshot wound at Ft. Hunter Liggett in California. The Veteran’s service personnel record reflect that he served at Ft. Ord in California from August 1983 until his discharge in May 1985. His personnel records also reflect that he was reprimanded at Ft. Hunter Liggett in August 1984, he requested a replacement identification card at Ft. Hunter Liggett on October 22, 1984, and received orders at Ft. Hunter Liggett in November 1984. In a statement received in August 2014, L.C.N. reported that he was stationed with the Veteran at Ft. Hunter Liggett and described that around 1985 they both witnessed the aftermath of a soldier who had committed suicide. He described the scene of the suicide. He reported that the Veteran was the first person to the scene, and appeared to be upset for several hours afterwards. He also described that afterwards the Veteran began to isolate himself. In the November 2015 remand, the Board requested that personnel record of L.C.N. be reviewed by the AOJ to verify he served with the Veteran at the time of the reported stressor event. In a June 2018 memorandum, the JSRRC Coordinator reviewed his personnel record and found that L.C.N. was stationed at Ft. Ord from August 1984 to November 1985. The Coordinator essentially concluded that because L.C.N. was not stationed with the Veteran at the time of the reported stressor, that stressor could not be verified. Based on a review of the record, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the claimed in-service stressor occurred. The Veteran identified the name of the serviceman who had committed suicide and of the base he had witnessed the incident. A military investigation report verified that that serviceman had died at that location on approximately that date. It could not be confirmed that L.C.N., whom the Veteran reported witnessed the same incident, served with the Veteran at the same location; however, the Veteran’s service personnel records show the Veteran was likely there at the time. The Veteran’s personnel record indicates that he was initially assigned to Ft. Ord, but his presence at Ft. Hunter Liggett at the time of confirmed suicide was consistent with the circumstances of his service and he had requested a new identification card at Ft. Hunter Liggett three days after W.F.W.’s death. The Veteran’s VA treatment record reflect that his PTSD is related to both childhood trauma and the incident during service. A July 2009 VA treatment note indicated the Veteran’s PTSD was related to both a traumatic childhood and an incident in the military where he saw someone commit suicide. A December 2013 VA treatment note diagnosed PTSD under the DSM-5 criteria based on a trauma experience where the Veteran saw a soldier who committed suicide by a gun shot. In an April 2018 VA mental health treatment note, the Veteran described trauma in both childhood and during his military service. The Board finds the evidence is at least in equipoise. The Veteran’s VA treatment records have related the Veteran’s PTSD to both his credible in-service stressor. Thus, considering the benefit of the doubt, entitlement to service connection for PTSD is granted. M.E. Larkin Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Eric Struening, Associate Counsel