JOHN WILLIAM TERNUS III, APPELLANT, v. JESSE BROWN, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.

6 Vet App 3706 Vet. App. 370; 1994 US Vet App LEXIS 2331994 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 233

No. 91-1903

March 29, 1994, Decided

UNITED STATES COURT OF VETERANS APPEALS

Before FARLEY, HOLDAWAY, and IVERS, Judges.

Counsel                 Elinor Roberts was on the brief for appellant.

                                James A. Endicott, Jr., General Counsel, David T. Landers, Acting Assistant General Counsel, R. Randall Campbell, Deputy Assistant General Counsel, and Amanda Linn Cashion were on the pleadings for appellee.

Opinion

Editorial Information: Prior History

 

On Appeal from the Board of Veterans' Appeals

Opinion by:                           IVERS

{6 Vet. App. 371} IVERS, Judge: John William Ternus III appeals a September 6, 1991, decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA or Board) which denied an effective date earlier than September 13, 1989, for a 100% rating for service-connected schizophrenia on the grounds that there was no clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in an October 1985 rating reduction or a September 1987 continuation of that reduced rating. John W. Ternus, BVA 91-26587 (Sept. 6, 1991). The Secretary has filed a motion for summary affirmance. The Court has jurisdiction over the case pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7252 (a). For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the September 1991 decision of the BVA.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Appellant served in the United States Army from December 1967 to February 1970, a period including one year of service in Vietnam. R. at 1. After his return from Vietnam in 1969, he was admitted to Letterman General Hospital with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. R. at 31. At that time, he gave a history of psychiatric hospitalization at Fort Ord, California, from May to August 1968 with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Ibid. In February 1970, appellant's case was reviewed by a medical board, which noted a diagnosis of