BVA9505298 
DOCKET NO.  93-10 802     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis,
Missouri

THE ISSUE

Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a
claim of entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric
disability.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Appellant

INTRODUCTION

The veteran had active service from March 1968 to April 1970.

The issue of service connection for a psychiatric disability was
denied by rating decisions in October 1986 and December 1989.
The current matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals
(Board) on appeal from a March 1992 rating decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St.
Louis which found that there had not been submitted new and
material evidence to reopen the claim.

REMAND

The current medical record does not reflect an acquired
psychiatric disorder until years after service.  However, at the
hearing on appeal, the veteran testified that after service, he
was first prescribed medication for his nerves at the VA Medical
Center, Hines, Illinois "in the 1970's."  (Hearing transcript at
page 14).  These records should be requested by the RO, including
records of his hospitalization at the Hines Medical Center in
January 1974.  Current VA treatment records should also be
obtained.  Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following
action:

1.  The RO should request copies of all of
the veteran's treatment records from the
Hines, Illinois, VA Medical Center dated
during the 1970's, to include records of
hospital admission in January 1974.

2.  The RO should request copies of the
veteran's treatment records from the VA
Medical Center, Poplar Bluff, Missouri,
which date from early 1992 to the present
time.

3.  When this development is completed, the
case should be reviewed by the RO.  The
RO's attention, in this regard, is directed
to Glynn v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 523 (1994)
which requires review of all evidence
submitted since the last final denial on
the merits.

If the benefits sought are not granted, the veteran and his
representative should be provided with an appropriate
supplemental statement of the case, and given an opportunity to
respond thereto.

          NANCY I. PHILLIPS
          Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals

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.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1994).

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
determination.  This proceeding has been assigned to an
individual member of the Board.