Citation Nr: 21062627
Decision Date: 10/08/21	Archive Date: 10/08/21

DOCKET NO. 14-29 502
DATE: October 8, 2021

REMANDED

The claim of entitlement to service connection for prostate cancer is remanded.

The claim of entitlement to service connection for a dental disorder is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1970 to December 1973.    

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  

In June 2021, the Veteran testified in a hearing before the Board.  A transcript of the hearing is included in the record and has been reviewed.  

A remand is warranted for additional development into the claims. 

The Veteran maintains that he incurred prostate and dental disorders during service as the result of exposure to herbicides while serving with the U.S. Navy near the coast of the Republic of Vietnam in the early 1970s.  See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309.  

Additional development is necessary into the question of whether the ship he served on entered the territorial waters of Vietnam.  See Procopio v. Wilkie, 913 F.3d 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (en banc).  

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Contact the appropriate sources and/or conduct the appropriate research to determine whether, between September 1970 and December 1973, the USS DIXIE (AD-14) entered the territorial waters of Vietnam.  To the extent possible, obtain and review any command history and any deck logs that provide detail regarding the ship's whereabout during the relevant time period.      

All efforts to obtain such evidence must be documented.  Also, notification should be provided in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(e).

 

 

G. A. WASIK

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Christopher McEntee

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.