BVA9500076 
DOCKET NO.  93-08 834     )       DATE
          )
          )

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

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the
United States

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Robert P. Regan, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The appellant served on active duty from July to October 1950.

The appellant maintains that he was hospitalized in September and
October 1950 during basic training for injuries to his ears
following an explosion.  In a statement dated in January 1992, he
states that he had surgery in 1951 and again in 1972.  These
records are not on file.  The record is unclear as to whether the
National Personnel Records Center conducted a search of the
hospital admission cards, Office of the Surgeon General,
Department of the Army.

REMAND

In accordance with the statutory duty to assist the appellant in
the development of evidence pertinent to his claim, the case is
REMANDED for the following actions:

1.  If appropriate, the RO should request
the National Personnel Records Center in
St. Louis, Missouri, to conduct a search of
the admission cards, Office of the Surgeon
General, Department of the Army, regarding
the appellant's hospitalization at Fort
Knox, Kentucky, apparently in September and
October 1950.

2.  The RO should furnish the appellant the
appropriate release of information forms in
order to obtain copies of all medical
records regarding treatment for his hearing
loss since his release from active duty to
include Dr. G. Horsley, at the Madison
Sanitarium and a hospital in Madison,
Tennessee, regarding surgery in 1951 and
the hospital records pertaining to his
surgery in Atlanta, Georgia, in September
1972.

Thereafter, the case should be reviewed by the RO.  If the
benefit sought is 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.

          ALBERT D. TUTERA
          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 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).