The Board has remanded the case to attempt to corroborate a claimed stressor event of witnessing a vehicular accident that caused serious bodily injury to a sergeant, which ultimately resulted in the sergeant's death. The Veteran served as a truck driver with the 91st Engineering Company during the period from August 1967 to approximately August 1968.
The deciding factor: The Board has remanded the case due to an error in determining that the duty to assist was satisfied when the Veteran provided information sufficient to locate records by stating he served as a truck driver with the 91st Engineering Company from August 1967 to approximately August 1968. The VA had not submitted multiple requests to the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) covering different 60-day periods.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depressive Disorder with Mixed Anxiety Features
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2016
- Citation
- 1615466
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1615466.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD is granted as the evidence shows a current diagnosis of PTSD, an in-service stressor, and a medical link between the two.
- Denied
The Veteran's PTSD has been rated at 50% since March 23, 2004. The Board found that a higher rating is not warranted prior to February 15, 2005 due to the severity of his symptoms and their impact on his social and occupational functioning.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and any acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his current mental health conditions and his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD resulted in occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, warranting a 70% disability rating. The Veteran also met the criteria for a TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
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