Citation Nr: 21062287 Decision Date: 10/06/21 Archive Date: 10/06/21 DOCKET NO. 18-23 587 DATE: October 6, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to an earlier effective date for the Veteran's service-connected disabilities is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from October 1942 to October 1945, to include eight months as a prisoner of war. The appellant is the Veteran's surviving spouse. In November 2016, the RO designated the appellant as the substitute for the Veteran for the purpose of processing the Veteran's active appeals. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2016 decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In a May 2019 decision, the Board denied the claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for the Veteran's service-connected disabilities. The Veteran timely appealed the Board's May 2019 decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ("CAVC"). CAVC reversed the Board's May 2019 decision and remanded the case to the Board. CAVC concluded that the Board's reading of the March 2011 VA Form 9 impermissibly narrowed the scope of the Veteran's claims to solely the increased PTSD evaluation issue. Entitlement to an earlier effective date for the Veteran's service-connected disabilities is remanded. The Veteran and, later, the appellant, contend that the Veteran initially filed a claim for service connection for his currently service-connected disabilities in September 2002. In support of this claim, the appellant has submitted numerous copies of a VA Form 21-4138 purportedly signed on September 24, 2002. The appellant has also submitted numerous copies of a VA Form 21-22 Appointment of Veterans Service Organization as Claimant Representative dated September 24, 2002. The appellant additionally submitted a copy of a VA Form 10-0048 dated September 24, 2002 detailing the Veteran's experiences in a German POW camp during the Second World War. The appellant has also submitted a copy of a letter from the Disabled American Veterans National Service Office to the Veteran's Benefits and Services Triage II desk dated October 7, 2002 indicating that the Veteran's application was attached as well as requesting that the Veteran's file be transferred to the New York City Regional Office. The back of the letter contains an annotation regarding a conversation with a someone named Kenya in the New York Regional Office. None of these documents are contained in the file within almost five years of their purported dates. The Board notes that the Veteran's informal claim for service connection dated September 24, 2002, was not stamped by a regional office until October 2007. The Veteran's claims for service connection for lumbar DDD, tinnitus, hypertension, PTSD, and hearing loss, right ear were all granted effective the date of the date stamp. However, the Board observes that there is a November 16, 2004 report of contact in the file regarding the Veteran's POW status and eligibility for benefits, but no other files for several years before or after. The Board also notes that there is a letter dated March 20, 2011, prior to the Veteran's death, but not associated with the file until September 21, 2017, five years after the Veteran's death, concerning the amount of time it had taken for his claim to be acted upon. The Board also notes that associated with the March 2011 letter was a copy of the October 2002 DAV letter noted above with an October 2002 postmark. Thus, in the interest of providing a full and equitable opportunity for the appellant, the Board finds that remand is required in order for the AOJ to conduct any required development in order to substantiate the appellant's claim that the Veteran applied in September 2002. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Conduct any necessary development in order to obtain the Veteran's complete VA file, and, in particular, those documents purportedly submitted to the VA in September or October 2002. In so doing, the AOJ is directed to contact the St. Louis and New York regional offices regarding whether any paper files from this time period may have been lost and any record of the Veteran's application. Document all requests for information as well as all responses in the claims file. L. M. BARNARD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M.D. Taylor, 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.