BVA9502169 DOCKET NO. 93-04 816 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Paul, Minnesota THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, claimed as post-traumatic stress disorder. 2. Entitlement to service connection for headaches. 3. Entitlement to service connection for a nasal disorder. 4. Entitlement to an increased (compensable) rating for bilateral defective hearing with tinnitus. 5. Entitlement to an increased (compensable) rating for postoperative residuals of a right inguinal hernia. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Frank L. Christian, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from June 1967 to July 1969, including a tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam from September 1968 to July 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of July 1991 from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Paul, Minnesota. REMAND The appellant seeks, inter alia, service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, claimed as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is contended that the veteran experienced several combat stressors during his tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam, including seeing various wounded individuals and hearing radio reports from United States troops being overrun. The veteran's DD Form 214 shows that his military occupational specialty was 13E (Fire Direction Computer and Intelligence Specialist). He was not awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge or the Purple Heart Medal, and received no awards or decorations for valor. His service administrative records, including his DA-Form 20, show that the veteran served in the Republic of Vietnam from September 13, 1968, through June 30, 1969, and that during that service he was attached to the HHB Americal Division Artillery. Service connection for PTSD requires medical evidence establishing a clear diagnosis of the condition, credible supporting evidence that the claimed inservice stressor actually occurred, and a link, established by medical evidence, between current symptomatology and the claimed inservice stressor. If the claimed stressor is related to combat, service department evidence that the veteran engaged in combat or that the veteran was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, or similar combat citation will be accepted, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as conclusive evidence of the claimed inservice stressor. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1154(b) (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.304 (1993). The Board notes that the sole diagnosis of PTSD appears in a report of VA psychiatric evaluation conducted in June 1991. The examiner cited the veteran's statement that his duties in Vietnam included calling in air strikes and artillery by radio, and that he "would hear people dying over the radio." As this history, together with various subjective symptoms claimed by the veteran, forms the basis for the diagnosis of PTSD, it is reasonable for the Board to require some corroboration or verification of the veteran's stressor stories in furtherance of its duty to assist the veteran in developing facts and evidence to support his claims. In this connection, the Board notes that the record reflects certain discrepancies in the veteran's testimony and written statements which increase the need for adequate verification of the claimed inservice stressors. These matters include the veteran's assertion that the stressful incidents occurred during the Tet Offensive (the veteran was not in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, which began January 30, 1968, and extended to mid- March 1968 in some areas) or that his highest rank achieved was E-6 (his service administrative records reflect that the highest rank achieved was E-5). Based upon the foregoing, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following: 1. The RO should ask the appellant to provide more specific facts about any "stressor" to which he may already have referred and to set forth specifics about the "stressors" he now alleges he "reexperiences," if any. Specifics include matters such as dates, places, and units of assignment. 2. Thereafter, a description of the veteran's "stressor" stories (including copies of statements made by the veteran, together with a copy of the DD Form 214 and the DA Form 20, or equivalent), should be forwarded to the United States Army and Joint Services Environmental Support Group (ESG), 7798 Cissna Road, Springfield, VA 22150, for verification of the stressor stories. 3. The veteran should then be scheduled for a special VA psychiatric evaluation by a psychiatrist qualified to evaluate and diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder and who has not previously examined the veteran. All necessary and appropriate diagnostic tests and procedures should be conducted and the findings reported in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Physician's Guide for Disability Evaluation Examinations, Chapter 20. The examining physician should be provided with the claims file and a copy of this REMAND order for review prior to the scheduled examination. If the examiner believes that PTSD is present, he should be requested to explicitly identify the stressors that caused the PTSD and to specify the evidence relied upon to determine the existence of the stressors. Upon completion of the above-requested action, the case should be reviewed by the RO. If the veteran's claims remain denied, a supplemental statement of the case should be provided the veteran and his representative and they should be afforded a reasonable opportunity to respond. Thereafter, the claims file, with the additional evidence requested, should be returned to this Board for further appellate review. J. U. JOHNSON 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) (1993).