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Whole decision: Denied

The Board denied service connection for the cause of the serviceman's death, finding that no service-connected disability caused or contributed to his death.,The claim for accrued benefits was dismissed as it was not filed within one year of the serviceman's death. ,The appellant's basic eligibility for nonservice-connected pension benefits was denied due to her husband's recognized guerrilla service in the Philippines, which did not qualify him for such benefits.

The deciding factor: No service-connected disability caused or contributed substantially to the serviceman's death.,Accrued benefits claim was not filed within one year of the serviceman's death.,The appellant's husband had only recognized guerrilla service, which did not qualify him for nonservice-connected pension benefits.

Claimed conditions
coronary artery disease, hypertension
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating
Not verified here — check the original decision
Decision date
May 7, 2004
Citation
0412034

Veterans Law Judge

JEFF MARTIN

Decisions by this judge: 1,242 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)

Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.

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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0412034.

What this means for you

A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.

What you can do next

Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).

Related decisions

Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.

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