BVA9506103 DOCKET NO. 93-12 128 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for post traumatic stress disorder. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Sherman, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active military service from January 1966 to June 1969. This appeal arises from a June 1992 rating decision of the Chicago, Illinois, regional office (RO) that denied service connection for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The veteran's service representative raised the issue of entitlement to non-service connected pension in the informal hearing presentation. It is noted that the veteran has alleged medical problems to include heart attacks, kidney and liver problems, eye infections and loss of sight in one eye, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, knee collapse, left leg numbness, hearing loss, and skin disorders. The issue of entitlement to non-service connected pension is not inextricably intertwined with the issue certified for appeal, and it is referred to the RO for appropriate action. Likewise, the service representative pointed out that no rating action or development has been undertaken with respect to the veteran's claims of service connection for hearing loss, knee problems, and skin disorder. Those issues are not inextricably intertwined with the issue certified to the Board, and they are referred to the RO for appropriate development. REMAND The veteran filed a claim for service connection for PTSD in December 1991 and submitted a statement dated in October 1991 in which he appeared to allege having flashbacks involving POW camps. The veteran also filed a statement in which he alleged stressors related to serving on burial detail for six months in the United States. Furthermore, during a VA examination, he recounted an additional stressor of having been shot down over the Southeast China Sea during a refueling flight, having survived in the water for 36 hours, and being treated aboard a hospital ship. Additional development will be necessary to determine whether the stressors can be verified. Department regulations require three elements to establish service connection for PTSD: medical evidence establishing a clear diagnosis of the condition; credible evidence that an inservice stressor occurred; and a link, established by medical evidence, between the current symptoms and the inservice stressor. If a claimed inservice stressor is related to combat, service records showing combat service or a combat citation is conclusive evidence of a stressor, in the absence of evidence to the contrary. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f) (1994). Where the veteran did not engage in combat or there is no evidence of combat service or the claimed stressor is not related to combat, lay testimony of the veteran, standing alone, is not sufficient to establish occurrence of an alleged stressor. See West v. Brown, 7 Vet.App. 70 (1994). The VA has a duty to assist the veteran in the development of facts pertinent to his claim. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(a) (1994). Accordingly, to ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has met its duty to assist the claimant in developing the facts pertinent to the claim, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following development: 1. Contact the veteran for information that will assist in verifying alleged stressors. With respect to the alleged air crash under enemy fire, ask the veteran the following questions: a. Was he injured? What injuries did he have? Where was he treated? b. Were other passengers/crewmen injured or killed? c. Names of other passengers/crewmen, whether or not injured or killed. d. What was the cause of the crash? (hostile fire, accident, weather, etc.) e. What was the type or kind of aircraft? (fixed wing or rotary; C- 130, UH-1, C-47, O-1, OH-1, etc.) f. Was the aircraft destroyed? g. Where did the crash happen? (jungle, runway, ocean, etc.) h. What was the approximate date of the crash? i. What unit was the aircraft from? j. Was the veteran on Temporary Duty (TDY) or Temporary Additional Duty (TAD) at the time of the incident? If so, how long was the veteran TAD/TDY? To what unit/installation was he TAD/TDY? What was the purpose of the TAD/TDY? Was the veteran part of a large group or alone? k. Names of others who have knowledge of the incident. With respect to the stressors relating to accompanying bodies to the United States for burial, please ask the following: a. Was the veteran on Temporary Duty (TDY) or Temporary Additional Duty (TAD) at the time of the incident? If so, how long was the veteran TAD/TDY? When did the TAD/TDY occur? To what unit/installation was he TAD/TDY? What was the purpose of the TAD/TDY? Was the veteran part of a large group or alone? b. Names of others who are aware of stressful incidents associated with the duty. With respect to the alleged stressors relating to internment as a POW, ask the veteran the following: a. Where and how long was the veteran interned? b. When was he captured? c. Was the veteran on Temporary Duty (TDY) or Temporary Additional Duty (TAD) at the time of the incident? If so, how long was the veteran TAD/TDY? To what unit/installation was he TAD/TDY? What was the purpose of the TAD/TDY? Was the veteran part of a large group or alone? d. Names of others who are aware of the incident. 2. After receipt of all requested information, send a letter requesting supporting evidence to the U.S. Army and Joint Services Environmental Support Group (ESG), 7798 Cissna Road, Suite 101, Springfield, VA 22150-3197, enclosing copies of the information received from the veteran and appropriate personnel records from the service department with the request. Furnish the following to the ESG: Veteran's full name; Claim number; Social Security number; Military service number; Regional office and address; Units of assignment, company, battalion, regiment, and division; Type, place, and dates of the specific stress incidents claimed; Names of other persons involved in or aware of the incidents, or names of close friends killed in action; Copy of the veteran's statement(s) describing stressors; and Copy of DD Form 20. 3. If there is competent, credible evidence that supports occurrence of the alleged stressors, obtain outpatient treatment and hospital records subsequent to August 1991 from Hines VAMC and North Chicago VAMC and any other care provider from which veteran has sought treatment, associate those records with the file, and accord the veteran another special VA psychiatric examination for diagnostic purposes, together with psychological testing. Make the claims folder available to the examiners prior to the examinations. Request the examiners to indicate whether or not the veteran has PTSD; and if so, what are the stressors relied upon to make such a diagnosis. 4. After the above development has taken place, to the extent possible, the case should be reviewed by the RO. If the decision remains adverse to the veteran, he and his representative should be afforded a supplemental statement of the case and a reasonable opportunity to respond. Thereafter, subject to current appellate procedures, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if appropriate. The veteran need take no further action until he is further informed. The purpose of this REMAND is to obtain additional information. No inference should be drawn regarding the final disposition of the claim as a result of this action. I. S. SHERMAN 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 determination. 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 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).