BVA9501232 
DOCKET NO.  93-11 275     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis,
Missouri

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for the post operative
residuals of a recurrent meningioma.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Hilary L. Goodman, Counsel

REMAND

The veteran apparently had active service from October 1957 to
March 1981.
This appeal arises from an October 1992 rating decision which
denied service connection for the post operative residuals of a
recurrent meningioma.

The veteran has contended that he struck his head when he was
blown out of a vehicle in Vietnam and thereafter experienced
headaches and developed a lump behind an ear.  He asserts that he
was treated at the Fort Leonard Wood Army Base after service and
underwent surgery for a brain tumor at Fitzsimons Army Medical
Center in 1989.

As the October 1992 rating decision reflects, there are no
medical records for the period from September 16, 1980, (6 months
prior to the veteran's retirement from service) until August
1991.

The veteran's representative contends that physicians at
Fitzsimons Army Medical Center have concluded that the veteran's
bilateral hearing loss, which began in service, was the result of
the veteran's brain tumor and the representative requests that
the Department of Veterans Affairs obtain the veteran's 1989
treatment records from Fitzsimons Army Medical Center.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board), having reviewed the
record, finds that further development is required.  Accordingly,
the issue is being REMANDED to the originating agency for the
following action:

1.  The originating agency should attempt
to obtain additional service medical
records, particularly for the period from
September 1980 through March 1981.

2.  The originating agency should request
the veteran to identify all sources of
medical treatment received by him for the
period from April 1981 through July 1991.
Copies of medical records from all sources
identified by the veteran should be
obtained and added to the claims folder.
The originating agency should ensure that
tissue slides and copies of the veteran's
medical records for the 1989 surgery at the
Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, as well as
copies of all of the veteran's medical
records from the Fort Leonard Wood Army
Base, are added to the records assembled
for appellate review.

3.  Upon completion of the above, the
originating agency should review this
claim.  If any determination made is
unfavorable to the veteran, a supplemental
statement of the case which sets forth the
evidence received since the statement of
the case should be issued to the veteran
and his representative.

The veteran and his representative should be given the
appropriate period of time in which to respond.  Thereafter, the
case should be returned to the Board for further appellate
consideration, if otherwise in order.  The purpose of this REMAND
is to obtain clarifying information and ensure all due process.
No action is required of the veteran unless he receives further
notice.

          GARY L. GICK
          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 deter-
mination.  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).