Citation Nr: 0737617 Decision Date: 11/30/07 Archive Date: 12/06/07 DOCKET NO. 04-42 592 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Montgomery, Alabama ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for loss of part of the intestines. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD P. Childers, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active military service from June 1948 until February 1969, including combat service in Vietnam during the Vietnam conflict. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2004 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Montgomery, Alabama, which denied entitlement to service connection for loss of part of the intestines. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. In July 1968 the veteran sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen during the Vietnam Conflict. 2. Surgery for treatment of the July 1968 abdominal gunshot wound included resection of the colon. 3. The veteran's July 1968 surgery resulted in loss of part of the intestines. CONCLUSION OF LAW Loss of part of the intestines was incurred during active military service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110; 5107 (West 2002 & Supp. 2006); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304 (2007). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The veteran reports that he was severely wounded by an AK-47 round during combat in Vietnam. He reports that he was transported to a field hospital at Phu Bai, where he underwent surgery. He recalls being "given a temporary colostomy," and says that after surgery a doctor told him that he had removed 8 feet of the veteran's intestines. He reports that he was transported from the field hospital on a liter to Camp Orgy [sic] in Tokyo, Japan, where he underwent additional surgery due to complications. He recalls that "stainless wiring" was used to hold his abdomen together, which he says was later removed at that location. He says that he was at that facility for about 30 days. He reports that he was then transferred by bus with other wounded soldiers to a C-141 transport aircraft destined for Washington, D.C. He reports that after a brief stay at Walter Reed Hospital, he was transported to Martin Army Community Hospital circa August 1968. He reports that he remained at Martin Army Hospital on the 9th floor until March 1969. In support of his contentions he submitted a statement from his platoon leader in Vietnam, who confirmed that the veteran was shot in the abdomen in Vietnam, and who informed that he visited the veteran at Martin Army Hospital in March 1969. Service connection will be granted if it is shown that the veteran suffers from a disability resulting from an injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty while in active military service. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. Satisfactory lay or other evidence that an injury or disease was incurred or aggravated in combat will be accepted as sufficient proof of service connection if the evidence is consistent with the circumstances, conditions or hardships of such service even though there is no official record of such incurrence or aggravation. It is the policy of VA to administer the law under a broad interpretation, consistent with the facts in each case, with all reasonable doubt to be resolved in favor of the claimant. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. DD-214, which shows the award to the veteran of a Purple Heart and a Combat Infantry Badge, confirms a military occupational specialty of Light Weapons Infantryman. Notations on the report of a December 1968 retirement examination (which was done at Martin Army Hospital, Fort Benning, Georgia) include the following: #31: Old GSW [gunshot wound], abdomen, left flank and back, W/A, RVN [wounded in action, Republic of Vietnam] 22 July 1968. LOD [limitation of duty]: Yes. Has temporary P-3 profile until 20 December 1968. Physician's notes on the accompanying Report of Medical History advise that the veteran was hospitalized during active military service from July 1968 to December 1968. In August 2005 the Board received additional evidence from the veteran consisting of medical records from Martin Army Community Hospital dated in July 2005. These records include the report of radiology testing done in July 2005, which confirms that the veteran has a "short colon due to prior surgery." According to the military physician, the procedure that the veteran underwent during service was "resection of part of his colon." The evidence confirms that the veteran sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen, left flank, and back during combat in Vietnam, and that he was hospitalized thereafter for at least five months because of this wound. The evidence also consists of the veteran's lay evidence that 8 feet of his intestines were removed during surgery at a field hospital in Phu Bai, Vietnam, and contains competent medical evidence which confirms that that the veteran has a short colon due to prior surgery. Although in-service hospital records have not been associated with the claims file, the Board notes that the veteran's account is consistent with the circumstances of his service and is supported by military evidence that is of record. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(d); see also Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331, 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (Lay evidence is one type of evidence that must be considered, if submitted, when a veteran's claim seeks disability benefits. Nothing in the regulatory or statutory provisions requires both medical and competent lay evidence; rather, they make clear that competent lay evidence can be sufficient in and of itself). Therefore, and in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(d), the Board finds that sufficient proof of service connection has been presented. VA has met the duty to notice and assist provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5100, 5102, 5103, 5103A, 5106, 5107, 5126 and 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.156(a), 3.159, 3.326. Letters from the RO dated in August 2003 informed the veteran of the evidence needed to substantiate his claim for service connection; of the evidence that VA would seek to provide; and of the information and evidence that he was expected to provide. To the extent that there may have been any deficiency in the timeliness or sufficiency of this notice, there is no prejudice to the veteran given the favorable nature of the Board's decision. ORDER Service connection for loss of part of the intestines is granted. ____________________________________________ S. S. TOTH Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Department of Veterans Affairs