Citation Nr: 20037055
Decision Date: 06/01/20	Archive Date: 06/01/20

DOCKET NO. 20-19 059
DATE: June 1, 2020

REMANDED

Service connection for prostate cancer due to herbicide exposure is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from October 1961 to January 1966.  The matter is on appeal before the Board from a March 2018 rating decision.  

Service Connection Prostate Cancer

The Veteran asserts that his prostate cancer is due to exposure to Agent Orange while serving aboard the U.S.S. Mahan from January 1963 to January 1966.  The Veteran has submitted information from various internet cites and articles that indicate the U.S.S. Mahan was present on the Saigon River from October 24 to October 28, 1964.  However, the VA ship list notes that the U.S.S. Mahan was on the Saigon River from October 24 to October 28, 1962 (rather than 1964).  

Yet, when the report on the U.S.S. Mahan was conducted in February 2020, purportedly employing the logbooks of the U.S.S. Mahan, there is no record of the U.S.S. Mahan in “brown waters” in either October 1962 or October 1964.  

Thus, further investigation is required to determine the locations of the U.S.S. Mahan during the Veteran’s active service on board, in particular as relates to the U.S.S. Mahan’s traversing of the Saigon River in either October 1962 or October 1964.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Perform further investigation pertaining to the whereabouts of the U.S.S. Mahan during the Veteran’s active duty service on board.  In particular, provide research to clarify whether the U.S.S. Mahan traversed brown waters on the Saigon River and when it occurred, that is in either October 24-28, 1962 or October 24-28, 1964.  If records, such as logbooks, are required from JSRRC or NARA to complete the research, then obtain them.

 

 

MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S. Lutgens-Staley, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.