Citation Nr: 0715346 Decision Date: 05/23/07 Archive Date: 06/01/07 DOCKET NO. 05-14 894 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Montgomery, Alabama THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L.J. Bakke, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from May 1972 to September 1979. This appeal arises before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a rating decision rendered in December 2004 by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Montgomery, Alabama. The veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in September 2006. A transcript of the hearing has been made and is associated with the claims file. The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the appellant if further action is required. REMAND The VA examination report of February 2004 and a private medical statement dated in September 2004 reflect that the veteran has been diagnosed with PTSD attributed to stressful experiences he underwent while on active service in the Republic of Korea. These stressors include the death of a Korean girl that the veteran struck while driving to Seoul to pick up equipment. The veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge as to the circumstances of this incident. He stated that he had been hospitalized prior to the incident for a suicide attempt. He had been distraught over matters at home. After his release from the hospital, he was returned to duty with the 227th Signal Company. He was directed to drive with another soldier to Seoul to pick up radio equipment, and on the way there, he saw people working in the rice patties. A young girl ran into the road in front of him and he struck her. He and the girl were taken to the hospital, where he learned the girl died. The veteran testified he was so distraught that he was again hospitalized and attempted to take his life. He also testified that the incident was investigated, and he was interviewed by a sergeant from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID). On his July 1979 Report of Medical History for his discharge examination, the veteran reported being hospitalized in 1973 in Seoul, Korea for depression as a result of being separated from his family. A November 1978 service medical record shows treatment for anxiety. Service personnel records are incomplete, and provide detailed information, including units of assignment, for only the second period of the veteran's active service, from May 1974 to September 1979. Records from the prior period of service, from May 1972 to May 1974 are not present in the claims file. However, these records do show the veteran had service in the Republic of Korea from January 1973 to January 1974. Given that the veteran's reported service in Korea is consistent with the record, his reported inservice treatment in 1973, and subsequent treatment for anxiety in 1978, another attempt to verify the veteran's reported stressor must be made. Efforts must be made to obtain the veteran's service personnel file, the CID report, and any investigation completed, including that conducted under the Status of Forces Agreement with South Korea. Accordingly, the case is remanded for the following action. 1. Obtain additional service medical records for the veteran for both periods of his active service, including any and all mental hygiene records and hospital records for the veteran's reported hospitalization in Seoul, Korea. 2. Obtain the veteran's complete service personnel records for both periods of his active service, including, but not limited to, copies of any and all orders, administrative remarks, administrative actions including non-judicial punishment and/or records of courts martial, investigative reports, line of duty investigations, and evaluation reports. 3. After determining the units with which the veteran was assigned, obtain the unit histories, incident and mishap reports, OR/LLs, and morning reports for those units for the time period from June to August 1973 and September 1973 to December 1973. Request the service department's assistance where necessary. 4. Obtain copies of any and all investigations into the averred incident in which the veteran struck a Korean girl in the time frames from June to August 1973 and September 1973 to December 1973. Request line of duty determinations, incident reports, CID investigation reports, and any and all investigations conducted as a result of SOFA. Request the service department's assistance where necessary. 5. Conduct any and all follow-up required and document negative responses. Apprise the veteran of negative responses and afford him the opportunity to submit evidence from other sources, to include obtaining buddy statements, letters he may have written to family members or friends during his active service, or statements from family members or other friends or service members to whom he may have confided his stressful experiences during his active service in Korea, subsequent active service, or shortly after his discharge from active service. 8. After undertaking any other development deemed essential in addition to that specified above, readjudicate the veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD, with application of all appropriate laws and regulations, and consideration of any additional information obtained as a result of this remand. If the claim is denied, furnish the veteran a supplemental statement of the case and a reasonable period of time to respond. Thereafter, subject to current appellate procedures, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate consideration, if appropriate. The veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). The Board intimates no opinion as to the ultimate outcome of this case. This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2006). _________________________________________________ RONALD W. SCHOLZ Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 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) (2006).