92 Decision Citation: BVA 92-27188 Y92 BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420 DOCKET NO. 90-30 751 ) DATE ) ) ) THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a stomach disability. 3. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Francis M. Jackson, Attorney WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Robert P. Regan, Counsel INTRODUCTION The appellant served on active duty from August 1968 to March 1970. This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (hereinafter Board) on appeal from a July 1989 rating determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs (hereinafter VA) Regional Office (hereinafter RO) located in Togus, Maine. The notice of disagreement was received in August 1989. The statement of the case was furnished in September 1989. The substantive appeal was received in October 1989. A hearing was held before a hearing officer at the RO in December 1989. The case was received and docketed at the Board in August 1990. On November 19, 1990, the Board entered a decision denying entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder, a stomach disability and tinnitus. The appellant timely appealed the Board decision to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals (hereinafter Court). On May 8, 1992, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (hereinafter Secretary) filed a motion with the Court for remand to the Board. The appellant did not oppose this motion. On May 12, 1992, the Court ordered the November 19, 1990, Board decision vacated and the case remanded to the RO. REMAND In the motion to remand, the Secretary proposed additional development of the evidence in order to corroborate the appellant's testimony regarding the specific stressful events which occurred while he was stationed in Vietnam. This proposal was in response to correspondence received from the United States Army and Joint Services Environmental Support Group, dated on May 9, 1990. Additionally, it was noted that the VA Adjudication Procedure Manual, M21-1, Part I, provisions concerning proof of combat stressors, had been amended in March 1991, subsequent to the November 1990 Board determination. In accordance with the Court's order, the case is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. The RO should request copies of morning reports from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade for the period from March 12, 1969, to April 11, 1970, (USARPAC-Vietnam) from the National Archives Records Administration, ATTN: NCPMA-O, 9700 Page Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63132-5200. 2. The RO should request the Daily Journals, Operational Reports-Lessons Learned (OR-LLs), Combat Operations After Action Reports (COARRs), and unit history covering the period from March 12, 1969, to April 11, 1970, (USARPAC-Vietnam) from the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington National Records Center, Military Archives Division, Washington, DC 20409. 3. When these documents are received, they should be forwarded along with a summary of the claimed stressors to the U.S. Army and Joint Services Environmental Support Group (ESG), Building 247, Stop 387, Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060-5387. ESG should be requested to provide any information which might corroborate the veteran's claimed stressors. The RO should be aware that Jim or Jimmy Johnson referred to in a memorandum submitted by the former representative on January 25, 1990 is a witness to the stressors and was not the individual wounded in action. 4. Thereafter, the RO should readjudicate the appellant's claim of entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder in conjunction with any additional evidence received and in accordance with all current law and regulations, to include the applicable provisions of VA Manual M21-1. If the benefits sought are not granted, the appellant and his representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and an opportunity to respond. The case should then be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration. The issues of entitlement to service connection for a chronic stomach disorder and tinnitus will be held in abeyance until the previously stated actions have been completed. BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420 * MEMBER TEMPORARILY ABSENT THOMAS J. DANNAHER EUGENE A. O'NEILL *38 U.S.C.A. § 7102(a)(2)(A) (West 1991) permits a Board of Veterans' Appeals Section, upon direction of the Chairman of the Board, to proceed with the transaction of business without awaiting assignment of an additional Member to the Section when the Section is composed of fewer than three Members due to absence of a Member, vacancy on the Board or inability of the Member assigned to the Section to serve on (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) the panel. The Chairman has directed that the Section proceed with the transaction of business, including the issuance of decisions, without awaiting the assignment of a third Member. Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 57 Fed. Reg. 4126 (1992) (to be codified as 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b)).