BVA9500095 
DOCKET NO.  93-10 975     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in
Montgomery, Alabama

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for arthritis of the hips and
knees.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: The American Legion

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

W. H. Wetmore, Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The veteran served on active duty from March 1941 to November
1941 and from February 1942 to March 1945.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) received this case on
appeal from a December 1992 rating decision.  The Board notes
that other issues were developed and certified for appellate
consideration but the veteran did not file a substantive appeal
with respect to them; therefore, the Board is not assuming
appellate jurisdiction over the other issues.

REMAND

The veteran contends that his arthritis of the knees and hips is
the result of his service-connected residuals of shell fragment
wounds.  He sustained multiple wounds when a friendly rifle
launched hand grenade fell short in August 1944.  The initial
hospitalization involved removal of all shrapnel from the right
leg.  There was no other injury to the lower extremities.  The
right leg wounds were consider healed in October 1944.  The
veteran was afforded a VA examination of his wounds in February
1946 that included a description of three healed scars of the
right leg.

The veteran is service connected for the residuals of a right
chest wound, a right leg wound, a liver wound with retained
foreign body, forearm wounds, a right posterior chest wound, an
ear wound and a lip wound.  The record as it is currently
constitutes raises a question of whether any or all of these
wounds are causally related to the onset of his arthritis of the
knees and hips.  This is primarily because a private doctor
found, among other things, that the veteran walked with a
"waddling gait due to [his] hips" and the only diagnosis was "old
injuries due to scrapnel.(sic)"

Thus, while the Board has some difficulty perceiving the
relationship the veteran claims to exist between the service
connected disabilities and the current arthritis,

there is some colorable support for it in the above cited
circumstance.  Therefore, the Board believes that a more specific
medical opinion in this matter is desirable.  Accordingly, this
case is REMANDED to the RO for the following:

1.  Copies of all treatment records
regarding the veteran's arthritis of the
knees and hips since March 1992 should be
associated with the claims file.

2.  The veteran should be scheduled for an
examination by a rheumatologist, if
available, or an orthopedist to determine
the medical probability of any relationship
between the service-connected disabilities
and the current knee and hip arthritis.
All indicated studies should be completed.
The examiner should be familiar with the
claims file medical evidence, particularly
the treatment in service, the findings
during the February 1946 VA examination and
the April 1980 private doctor's examination
report.  The opinion at the conclusion of
the examination should consider the entire
record and include a rationale for the
conclusion reached.

3.  The RO should take adjudicatory action
based on the evidence obtained pursuant to
the development sought above.  If the
benefit sought by the veteran is not
granted, a supplemental statement of the
case should be prepared.

After the veteran and his representative have been given an
opportunity to respond to the supplemental statement of the case,
the claims folder should be returned to this Board for further
appellate review, if in order.  No action is required by the
veteran until he receives further notice.  The purpose of the
remand is to procure clarifying data and to comply with governing
adjudicative procedures.  The Board intimates no opinion, either
legal or factual, as to the ultimate disposition of this appeal.

          BARBARA B. COPELAND
          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).