Source: https://veteranclaims.net/2009/04/05/missing-records-advancement-on-bva-docket-due-to-age-daye-v-nicholson-no-05-2475/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 04:24:42+00:00

Document:
Missing or “not available” records, this case was decided before the revelation of VA shredding documents and “amnesty” for removed records.
Where, as here, an appellant’s records are “NOT AVAILABLE” (R. at 143), the Secretary’s duty to assist is heightened. Washington v. Nicholson, 19 Vet.App. 362, 369-71 (2005)(when service medical records are presumed lost or destroyed VA’s duty to assist is heightened); Moore v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 401, 406 (1991).
Also noted is the advancement on the BVA docket due to the veterans age.
I served in the Korean War for about eleven months. I was discharged in July 1952.
Infantry Regiment, 159th Field Artillery Battalion]. We were attached to the 25th Inf.
Hillsborough high school classmate, James Thompson, Exhibit B[,] was also injured.
with the 24th Inf. Regt. [were] black.
names of casualties from the 159th Field Artillery Battalion, apparently obtained from the Internet.
Carolina, who was seriously wounded on June 20, 1951, and ultimately returned to duty. R. at 139.
The appellant entered service from Orange County, North Carolina. R. at 144.
DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge, and his 1946 Certificate of Disability Discharge. R.
August 26, 2005, decision, the Board denied entitlement to service connection for PTSD. R. at 1-12.
and the claimed in-service stressor. 38 C.F.R. § 3.304(f) (2006); see Cohen v. Brown, 10 Vet.App.
claim for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary.” Where, as here, an appellant’s records are “NOT AVAILABLE” (R. at 143), the Secretary’s duty to assist is heightened. Washington v. Nicholson, 19 Vet.App. 362, 369-71 (2005)(when service medical records are presumed lost or destroyed VA’s duty to assist is heightened); Moore v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 401, 406 (1991).
establish the occurrence of the claimed in-service stressor. 38 U.S.C. § 1154(b); 38 C.F.R.
311 (1997); see also Pentecost v. Principi, 16 Vet.App. 124, 128 (2002).
Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395 (1948)).
for its rejection of any material evidence favorable to the claimant. See Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet.App.
is entitled to the benefit provided by 38 U.S.C.A. § 1154(b).
from the 159th FA Battalion Aid station in December 1951.
Badge (CIB) or the Combat Medical Badge (CMB) which also establish engagement in combat.
unsuccessful request for his personnel records.
the Board erred to the extent that it found to the contrary.
reasons or bases for finding that artilleryman was not engaging in combat when firing at the enemy).
Board’s combat award “boilerplate”language is completely irrelevant to the appellant’s claim.
of comrades he mentioned by name.
Perhaps the Board intended to find that the evidence was insufficient rather than nonexistent.
appellant claims died while the appellant tried to administer first aid. R. at 141; see Appellant’s Br.
Infantry Division Association, Field Artillery, Unit History, at www.25ida.org.

References: v. 
 v. 
 § 3
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 § 1154
 v. 
 v. 
 § 1154