BVA9501491 
DOCKET NO.  93-09 686     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Atlanta,
Georgia

THE ISSUES

1.  Whether new and material evidence has been submitted in order
to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for a
gastrointestinal disability.

2.  Whether new and material evidence has been submitted in order
to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for a back
disability.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Georgia Department of Veterans
Service

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Robert P. Regan, Counsel

REMAND

The appellant served on active duty from March 1941 to September
1945.

While the case was pending before the Board of Veterans' Appeals
(Board), the appellant submitted pertinent evidence which the
Regional Office (RO) had not had the opportunity to review.  The
appellant has not waived his procedural right to have this
additional evidence reviewed by the RO.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1304.  In
order to ensure the appellant's receipt of due process, the case
is REMANDED to the RO for the following action:

The RO should review the statements submitted
into evidence by the appellant in June 1993 in
the context of all the evidence to determine
whether the additional evidence is of
sufficient weight or significance (assuming its
credibility) that the prior disposition of the
claim should be altered.  If the decision is
unfavorable, the RO should furnish the appel-
lant and his representative a supplemental
statement of the case which provides an
explanation as to why the evidence submitted by
the appellant since the last final denial on
the merits does not change the outcome.

After the appellant and his representative have been given the
applicable time for response, the case should be returned to the
Board for further appellate consideration, if in order.

          GARY L. GICK
          Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals

The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures
Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___
(1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be
assigned to an individual member of the Board for a deter-
mination.  This proceeding has been assigned to an individual
member of the Board.

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 action has been taken in
accordance with the Veterans' Benefits Improvements Act of 1994,
Pub. L. No. 103-446, § 303, 108 Stat. 4645, ___ (1994), and is in
the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a
decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R.
§ 20.1100(b) (1993).