Citation Nr: 20030183 Decision Date: 04/29/20 Archive Date: 04/29/20 DOCKET NO. 12-10 354 DATE: April 29, 2020 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for prostate cancer to include as due to herbicide exposure is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from February 1965 to January 1969, from July 1971 to April 1978, and from February 1980 to March 1988. He received the Air Force Good Conduct Medal with 3 devices among other medals and awards. The Veteran died in June 2016. The Appellant was granted substitution by the RO in an August 2016 Correspondence. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(f). This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2010 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Jackson, Mississippi. Service connection for prostate cancer, to include as due to herbicide exposure was denied in a November 2014 Board decision. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The Court issued an ORDER granting a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) in September 2015. The matter returned to the Board in March 2016 when it was REMANDED to the RO for additional development consistent with the Court’s REMAND to include: (1) placing a copy of the Compensation and Pension Service’s Memorandum for the Record in the Veteran’s file, (2) asking the Veteran to provide “approximate dates, locations, and nature of his claimed exposure to herbicides, (3) determine if the Veteran provided sufficient information to permit a records search by the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC), (4) refer the matter to the JSRRC or appropriate agency for verification of exposure to herbicides in light of the information provided by the Veteran, all efforts and responses should be documented, (5) following any additional development necessary after the efforts noted above, readjudicate the matter. The matter has now returned to the Board for further appellate consideration. The Board observes that the Veteran died approximately five months after the Board’s March 2016 REMAND. However, prior to his death the Veteran submitted a November 2015 Affidavit providing approximate dates, locations and a more detailed description about the nature of his claimed herbicide exposure. The Board notes that this affidavit provided more detailed information regarding the Veteran’s assertion of herbicide exposure, including the location and nature of his work and its proximity to the flight line and base perimeter, a description of perimeter contact during defense of a night raid and including building sand bunkers to prevent future attacks, and a report of his living quarters and mess hall being located close to the perimeter. The Board observes that VA made a Formal Finding in February 2020 that it lacks sufficient evidence to verify herbicide exposure in Thailand. However, the Board also notes that the more specific details regarding the Appellant’s claimed exposure to herbicide agents while serving in Thailand were not of record when an August 2010 JSRRC memorandum was completed. Thus, given that the RO has obtained the approximate dates of the Veteran's deployment to Udorn, military occupation specialty, regular place of work (“a hut which was approximately 30 minutes from the base, near the flight line and perimeter”) within the base, and his unit of assignment, it is difficult to understand why the information is insufficient to request an updated exposure verification from the JSRRC. Since it is unclear whether the additional request to JSRRC would be futile, the Board finds that, under the circumstances of this case, such a request is required by VA's duty to assist the Appellant. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. On remand, the RO should send a request to JSRRC and attempt to verify whether, during his deployment to Udorn, the Veteran was at or near the base perimeter, and whether he would have performed work that brought him near the base perimeter. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Contact the Appellant and invite her to submit further information indicating that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during his service in Thailand, including but not limited to, any information which indicates that, during her husband's service at Udorn, he visited or worked at or near the perimeter of the base. Examples of useful information might include written statements from persons who served at Udorn with her husband, pictures or other documents showing connection with the base perimeter, or the Appellant's own recollections of conversations she had with the Veteran before his death. 2. After waiting a reasonable time for the Appellant to respond, the RO must contact the JSRRC, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) and/or any other appropriate depository and attempt to verify whether the Veteran was regularly near the perimeter of the Royal Thai Air Force Base at Udorn between February 1968 and January 1969. The RO should provide the JSRRC with the November 2015 Affidavit of exposure. 3. After completing the development required above, to the extent possible, the RO should add a Formal Finding to the record as to the findings regarding the Veteran’s claimed service in Thailand. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board B. Banks, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.