BVA9501602 
DOCKET NO.  93-06 872     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Togus, Maine

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for trochanteric bursitis of
the right hip.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

The appellant

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Bernard T. DoMinh, Associate Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The appellant is a former member of the Army National Guard.

This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on
appeal from a rating decision by the Togus, Maine, Regional
Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which
denied a claim for service connection for trochanteric bursitis
of the right hip.

REMAND

National Guard records now on file were apparently submitted by
the appellant himself; the RO has not directly contacted the
service department to verify service or obtain complete medical
records.  A DD Form 214 shows the appellant had a period of
active duty for training (six months of basic training) with the
Army National Guard/Reserve from June to December 1957.  He
reportedly had later periods of active duty for training and
inactive duty training.  Documents submitted by the appellant
show he had a period of annual active duty for training (summer
camp) with the Maine National Guard in August 1985, and he
asserts he has a right hip disability from that period of
service.

National Guard medical records dated in August 1985 show that the
appellant was diagnosed with trochanteric bursitis affecting his
right hip during a two-week long period of active duty for
training.  The treatment records indicate no known injury and a
history of symptoms beginning two weeks earlier (apparently prior
to the two-week summer camp).

When the former serviceman filed his claim in March 1992, he
reported that he had received no treatment since the August 1985
episode.  During an October 1992 RO hearing, the appellant
testified that he had no history of hip problems prior to the
period of active duty for training in August 1985.  He reported
that he served 20 years in the National Guard, until retiring in
1987, and that private medical records existed that would show
that he was currently receiving treatment for right hip problems
from a physical therapist recommended to him by a physician he
identified as Dr. Meyers.  The National Guard medical records
from his 20 years of service, as well as the private physical
therapy records and the medical treatment records from Dr.
Meyers, are not included in his claims folder.

The VA has a duty to assist a claimant in developing facts
pertinent to claims which are well-grounded, meaning not
inherently implausible.  38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991);
38 C.F.R. §§ 3.103(a), 3.159 (1993).  This duty, in the present
case, includes obtaining all relevant private and governmental
records and providing a medical examination.  Murphy v.
Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 78 (1990); Littke v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App.
90 (1990).

In view of the foregoing, the case is REMANDED for the following
development:

1.  The RO should directly contact the
service department and obtain verification
of all of the appellant's periods of Army
National Guard and Reserve service, and the
nature of each period of service (active
duty, active duty for training, and
inactive duty training).  The RO should
also obtain complete service department
medical records from the appellant's
reported 20 years of service in the
National Guard.  This includes, but is not
limited to, periodic general medical
examinations and treatment records from
periods of training.

2.  The RO should ask the appellant to
provide the names and addresses of all
medical care providers who have ever
treated or examined him for a right hip
disorder, and the dates of that care.
After securing the necessary release forms,
the RO should itself directly contact the
medical providers and obtain complete
copies of the medical records, following
the provision of 38 C.F.R. § 3.159 (1993).

3.  The appellant should undergo a VA
orthopedic examination to determine the
existence and etiology of any right hip
disorder, including trochanteric bursitis.
Both hips should be examined for purposes
of comparison.  A detailed history should
be elicited, and all indicated tests should
be performed.  The claims folder must be
made available to and reviewed by the
examiner.

Thereafter, the RO should review the claim.  If the claim is
denied, the appellant and his representative should be issued a
supplemental statement of the case and given an opportunity to
respond.  Then the case should be returned to the Board.

          L. W. TOBIN
          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).