Citation Nr: 0003445 Decision Date: 02/10/00 Archive Date: 02/15/00 DOCKET NO. 97-22 556 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in No. Little Rock, Arkansas THE ISSUE Whether new and material evidence has been presented to reopen a claim for service connection for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: James W. Stanley Jr. WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Michael F. Bradican, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from July 1969 to January 1972. This case arises before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of January 1997, from the North Little Rock, Arkansas, Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). FINDINGS OF FACT 1. All evidence necessary for an equitable disposition of the veteran's claim has been developed. 2. Evidence presented since the December 1993 rating decision which denied service connection for PTSD is new and material and serves to reopen the claim. 3. The veteran's accounts of stressful events in the combat zone are credible and consistent with nature of his duties. 4. Objective evidence has been presented which corroborates several of the veteran's claimed stressors. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. New and material evidence has been presented to reopen the claim for service connection for PTSD. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5108 (West 1991 and Supp. 1998); 38 C.F.R. § 3.156 (1999). 2. PTSD was incurred in active military service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 5107 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (1999). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The veteran first claimed service connection for PTSD in August 1990. A rating decision of February 1991 denied service connection. In December 1993 service connection was again denied. In March 1995 the veteran again attempted to reopen his claim for service connection for PTSD. A rating decision of January 1997 again denied service connection. The veteran entered a notice of disagreement and substantive appeal with regard the January 1997 rating decision. During his initial claim for service connection for PTSD the veteran related that he was assigned as a power generation mechanic for a maintenance company. He stated that he was stationed for part of his Vietnam tour in the I Corps area in the northern section of South Vietnam. He related that his duties primarily involved being a member of a maintenance contact team which was sent to various outlying firebases and locations. The purpose of these missions was the repair and evaluation of power generation equipment utilized by artillery units. His maintenance company's overall mission was the support of these combat units, and involved repair and evaluation of various sorts of equipment, weapons systems, and vehicles. This mission was often accomplished through the use of such maintenance contact teams which would be dispatched to the location of the supported unit. The veteran has related relatively consistent accounts of his claimed stressors throughout the history of his claim. Most notably he has stated that he was in a vehicle directly behind a tractor trailer which hit a mine. He reported, with some specificity, the details of this encounter, the exact date, and the names of injured fellow soldiers. In evidence submitted subsequent to the last denial of service connection, the Environmental Support Group (ESG) verified the details of this incident and corroborated the veteran's statements. The veteran has also related that he was present at Khe Sahn on March 23, 1971 when enemy sappers attacked the base. Although his actual presence at the base has not been confirmed, the nature of his duties are consistent with his statements regarding his presence there and the Board finds those statements credible. Furthermore, it is unlikely that any written evidence regarding the dispatch of maintenance contact teams could be recovered. ESG also verified the sapper attack at Khe Sahn on March 23, 1971. Prior Board and rating decisions are final. They may be reopened only upon receipt of new and material evidence. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5108 (West 1991). New and material evidence means evidence which has not previously been submitted to agency decision makers and which bears directly and substantially upon the specific matter under consideration. It must not be cumulative or redundant. It must also be significant enough, by itself, or in conjunction with evidence previously submitted, that it must be considered in order to fairly decide the merits of the claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156. It must first be determined if there is new and material evidence to reopen a claim. As noted above, the Board finds that the veteran has presented new and material evidence to reopen his claim. ESG reports have confirmed two of the stressful events he has reported. Service connection for PTSD requires a current medical diagnosis of PTSD, medical evidence of a causal nexus between current symptomatology and the claimed in-service stressor, and credible supporting evidence that the claimed stressor actually occurred. As noted above the veteran has provided credible supporting evidence of ins-service stressors. PTSD was diagnosed in September 1989 by the RBK Counseling Center. VA records also show a diagnosis of PTSD beginning in September 1990. The claims folder contains a statement by Dr. Kelly, a staff psychiatrist of the PTSD section of the John McClellan Memorial Veterans' Hospital dated in February 1998. Dr. Kelly states that the veteran currently has symptoms indicative of PTSD including intrusive thoughts and nightmares related to combat experiences. The Board concludes that the evidence shows a current diagnosis of PTSD related to the veteran's objectively verified stressors. Therefore a grant of service connection for PTSD is in order. ORDER Entitlement to service connection for PTSD is granted. M. W. GREENSTREET Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals