Citation Nr: 21039984 Decision Date: 07/02/21 Archive Date: 07/02/21 DOCKET NO. 07-33 424 DATE: July 2, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served honorably in the United States Army from April 1957 to April 1959. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2006 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This appeal has been before the Board on several occasions. More recently, in September 2017, the Board denied the claim in a September 2017 decision. In January 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims granted a joint motion for remand (JMR), and vacated and remanded the issue. In July 2019, the Board remanded the claim to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) yet again for additional development, and it has since returned to the Board. 1. Entitlement to service connected for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, is remanded. Although the Board sincerely regrets the additional delay, another remand is necessary to ensure that there is a complete and accurate record upon which to decide the Veteran's claim for PTSD so that every possible consideration is afforded. The Veteran is seeking service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, claimed as PTSD, and in support of his claim, has alleged multiple in-service stressors. Among his alleged in-service stressors, the Veteran reported having witnessed CPL [REDACTED] commit suicide. See 9/17/12 VA 21-0781, Statement in Support of Claim for Service Connection for PTSD. While the Veteran was initially unable to provide CPL [REDACTED] full name or service number, the Veteran identified his unit, noted that this occurred sometime in 1958 or 1959, and noted that this incident occurred in Germany. This case was previously remanded to attempt to corroborate the Veteran's stressors, including CPL [REDACTED] suicide. Numerous attempts have been made by the RO for searches via National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC), and Defense Personnel Records Information Retrieval System (DPRIS). Those searches proved unsuccessful, as they yielded negative results due to the lack of service numbers, full names, and other identifiable information. However, the VA regional office attempted an additional search that resulted in favorable information. In August 2015, the Appeals Management Center (AMC) noted, "AN INTERNET SEARCH OF COLD WAR CASUALTIES SHOWS THAT CPT (OR POSSIBLY (CPL) (first name omitted) [REDACTED] OF THE 33RD TANK BATTALION COMMITTED SUICIDE IN 1958 WITH A 45 CALIBER WEAPON. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS IS THE SAME PERSON WHOSE SUICIDE THE VETERAN CLAIMS TO HAVE WITNESSED. WITH THIS INFORMATION, PLEASE ASK NPRC FOR THE DECEASED PERSONNEL FILE FOR (first name omitted) [REDACTED]." In December 2015, the Veteran submitted a VA 21-4138 affirming that he was in the 33rd Tank Battalion with the identified individual in the August 2015 AMC. The Board will consider the Veteran's stressor regarding CPL [REDACTED] to be verified. In this case, the Veteran's service treatment records have been presumed destroyed in a 1937 fire at the NPRC in St. Louis, Missouri. In cases such as this where a Veteran's service department records are unavailable, the Board is under a heightened obligation to explain its findings and to carefully consider whether the evidence is in equipoise, and if so, to resolve the matter in the claimant's favor. O'Hare v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 365, 367 (1991); Pruitt v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 83, 85 (1992). Given the August 2015 AMC notation, the Veteran's statements in December 2015, and taking into consideration that the Veteran's service treatment records are presumed destroyed, the Board finds that the claimed in-service stressor pertaining to CPL [REDACTED] suicide has been sufficiently verified pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f). However, the Board notes that the Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination for his acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD. VA's duty to assist includes providing a medical examination when it is necessary to decide a claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(d); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. Such development is necessary if the information and evidence of record does not contain sufficient competent medical evidence to decide the claim, but (1) contains competent evidence of diagnosed disability or symptoms of disability, (2) establishes that the Veteran suffered an event, injury or disease in service, or has a presumptive disease during the pertinent presumptive period, and (3) indicates that the claimed disability may be associated with the in-service event, injury, or disease, or with another service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(4); McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83-86 (2006). Medical records indicate that the Veteran was diagnosed with PTSD, depressive disorder, chronic adjustment disorder, and he was given prescription medications for treatment; the Veteran suffered a corroborated stressor; and there is lay evidence sufficient to indicate that the Veteran's psychiatric conditions may be associated with the stressor. Accordingly, an examination and opinion in order to ascertain the etiology and nature of the Veteran's PTSD to include specifically whether the in-service stressor is the basis for a diagnosis of PTSD is warranted. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA mental health examination to assess whether the Veteran has a psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, that is related to his period of service. Request that the examiner review the claims file and note the review in an examination report. After reviewing the claims file, the examiner should: (a.) Determine whether the Veteran has PTSD and/or any other psychiatric disability. The examiner must reconcile the diagnoses of PTSD, depressive disorder, and chronic adjustment disorder that appear in the record if the examiner determines that any such diagnoses are not supportable by DSM criteria. (b.) If the Veteran is diagnosed with PTSD, the examiner must explain how the diagnostic criteria is met and provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not related to the Veteran's now-verified in-service stressor of witnessing the suicide of CPL [REDACTED]. (c.) For each psychiatric diagnosis other than PTSD, the examiner should similarly provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or greater probability) that the disability had its onset in, or is otherwise related to the Veteran's period of service, to include his verified stressor of having witnessed the suicide of CPL [REDACTED]. The examiner should note that at this time, no other claimed stressor has been verified. The examiner must provide a complete rationale for his or her opinion(s) in the examination report. If any of the requested opinions cannot be made without resort to speculation, the examiner must state this in his or her opinion and provide a rationale for such a conclusion. A. S. CARACCIOLO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Kim, 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.