Citation Nr: 21075448 Decision Date: 12/20/21 Archive Date: 12/20/21 DOCKET NO. 19-15 682 DATE: December 20, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for residuals of a left hand injury, claimed as partial traumatic amputation, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corp from June 1962 to January 1966. He also had service in the U.S. Marine Corp Reserve, to include a period of active duty for training from March 1962 to June 1962. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2018 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In August 2021, the Veteran testified at a virtual Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of that hearing has been associated with the record. The Board notes that the Veteran's claim for service connection for partial traumatic amputation of the left hand was previously denied by the RO in a December 2005 rating decision. Generally, once a claim is finally denied, it may be reopened only upon the submission of new and material evidence. Here, however, after the December 2005 rating decision was entered, official service department records were received that had existed at the time of the December 2005 decision but had not been associated with the claims file. Namely, in February 2018, VA made a request for "complete" service treatment records and the "entire" service personnel file, which was shipped and uploaded to the electronic claims file. See VA Form 21-3101 printouts. The newly obtained personnel records submitted after the December 2005 rating decision, include additional relevant evidence documenting the nature of the Veteran's medical discharge from service, including a December 1965 memorandum to the Veteran from the Marine Barracks Commanding Officer regarding his orders "pending action on Physical Evaluation Board," which indicated the Veteran was still undergoing "treatment at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia." Under the circumstances, the claim for service connection must be reconsidered on the merits, without regard to the prior adjudication. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(i). Entitlement to service connection for residuals of a left hand injury, claimed as partial traumatic amputation, is remanded. Although the Board sincerely regrets the additional delay, a remand is necessary to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran's claim and to afford him every possible consideration. The Veteran has identified potentially outstanding treatment records from the U.S. Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, related to his left hand injury that occurred when he lit a "cherry bomb" firecracker in June 1965. He indicated in his original claim for benefits in August 2005 that he had been treated at the hospital from June 1965 to November 1965, and informed VA that "[a]ny other evidence for the left hand partial amputation will be with the Department of the Navy Medical Corps." See August 2005 formal claim form and accompanying VA Form 21-4138 (Statement in Support of Claim); see also December 1965 memorandum to the Veteran from the Marine Barracks Commanding Officer (indicating that the Veteran had not yet been discharged from "treatment at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia" at the time of the memorandum). Although there are service treatment records referencing the Veteran's left-hand injury that occurred in June 1965, it does not appear that any specific request has been made for the subsequent outstanding U.S. Naval Hospital treatment records beyond that of the Medical Board Report prepared in conjunction with the Veteran's Physical Evaluation Board proceedings. See November 22, 1965 Medical Board Report ("He was initially examined at the dispensary at the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Va. and immediately sent to this hospital."). The Naval Hospital treatment records, if procured, could be relevant to the Veteran's claim and the Department's line-of-duty determination, which the Board must assess under 38 C.F.R. § 3.1(n) and (m). Accordingly, a remand is required for VA to request these potentially relevant records. This matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Make efforts to obtain any inpatient records from the U.S. Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, that may exist for the Veteran for the period from June 1965 through approximately December 1965, pertaining to treatment for a left hand injury, following the procedures set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. Efforts to obtain the evidence should be fully documented and should be discontinued only if it is concluded that the evidence sought does not exist or that further efforts to obtain the evidence would be futile. 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2). The evidence procured, if any, should be associated with the record. If any of the records sought are not available, the record should be annotated to reflect that fact, and the Veteran and his representative should be notified. 2. After completing the above, and any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the preceding paragraph, the issue on appeal should be readjudicated based on the entirety of the evidence. If the benefit sought remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be issued a supplemental statement of the case. DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board K. Gielow, 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.