Citation Nr: 0728806 Decision Date: 09/13/07 Archive Date: 09/25/07 DOCKET NO. 99-22 363A ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in New York, New York THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Paralyzed Veterans of America, Inc. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD E.B. Joyner, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from July 1966 to July 1968, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in New York, New York. When the case was last before the Board in October 2003, the Board denied the appellant's claim for entitlement to service connection for PTSD. The appellant appealed this decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In August 2006, the Court issued an order that vacated the Board's October 2003 decision denying the claim, and remanded the matter to the Board for action in compliance with the Order. REMAND Pursuant to the directive in the August 2006 Court Order, a remand is required in order to comply with the notification and development requirements of the VCAA. Specifically, the veteran must be informed of all of the types of information and evidence that he may provide in order to help verify his alleged stressors, to include the fact that he may submit evidence in the form of "buddy" statements. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED to the RO or the Appeals Management Center (AMC) in Washington, D.C., for the following actions: 1. The AMC or the RO should send the veteran a letter providing the notice required under 38 U.S.C.A. § 5103(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(b), to include a request that the veteran submit any pertinent evidence in his possession, as well as the notice specified by the Court in Dingess/Hartman. The letter should also request the veteran to provide the name of the individual who was hit by sniper fire in November 1967 when coming out of the shower, as well as the name of the individual and date of the event involving a man being hit by sniper fire at Thompson's Airport. Finally, the letter should inform the veteran that he may submit "buddy" statements in order to help substantiate his alleged stressors. 2. The AMC or the RO should undertake appropriate development to obtain any pertinent evidence identified but not provided by the veteran. If it is unable to obtain any such evidence, it should so inform the veteran and his representative and request them to provide the outstanding evidence. 3. If the veteran provides sufficient information regarding his claimed stressors, the AMC or the RO should attempt to verify the veteran's stressors through JSRRC or other appropriate depository. 4. Then, the AMC or the RO should undertake any other indicated development and readjudicate the issue on appeal. If the benefit sought on appeal is not granted to the veteran's satisfaction, the veteran and his representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and provided an appropriate opportunity to respond. Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board for further appellate action, if otherwise in order. By this remand, the Board intimates no opinion as to any final outcome warranted. No action is required of the appellant until he is otherwise notified, but he has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter the Board has remanded. See Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). 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). _________________________________________________ Shane A. Durkin 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).