The Board denied the appellant's claims for non-service-connected death pension benefits, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits, and accrued benefits owed to the widow of the deceased veteran due to insufficient evidence showing 90 days of active service.
The deciding factor: The veteran did not meet the statutory requirement of having at least 90 days of active duty for non-service-connected death pension eligibility. The Board found that his service was six days short of the required 90-day period and that he was discharged due to a pre-existing knee disorder, which prevented him from meeting the minimum physical standards for enlistment.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Disorder, Left Knee Degenerative Joint Disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 21, 2001
- Citation
- 0116841
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 0116841.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee disorder is related to his military service and grants entitlement to service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for a right knee disorder and an initial compensable rating for TBI, as new evidence was received. The effective date for service connection for TBI is being remanded.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee disorder is related to his service, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee disability is rated at 40 percent for limitation of extension, effective December 18, 2025. The Veteran also received separate ratings for instability and dislocation of semilunar cartilage.
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