The Board found that the cause of death was pneumonia, which is not service-connected. The claim for Dependents' Educational Assistance under Chapter 35 also failed to meet legal requirements.
The deciding factor: Service connection could not be established as the cause of death (pneumonia) was not shown to have been incurred or aggravated by active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Pneumonia, Severe emphysema, Congestive heart failure, Bronchiectasis, Atherosclerotic vascular disease, Ischemic heart disease, Hypertensive cardiovascular disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 27, 2004
- Citation
- 0423881
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 0423881.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an initial rating of 30 percent prior to July 18, 2014, and a higher than 60 percent rating thereafter for ischemic heart disease is being remanded due to incomplete evidence. The examiner needs to provide more detailed information about the severity of his service-connected condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for heart condition was granted with an effective date of August 1, 2019. The decision is based on evidence showing exposure to diesel and gas fuel during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date and increased rating for ischemic heart disease due to a failure by the AOJ to request SSA records, which were not available.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there is no evidence to support a causal relationship between the Veteran's military service and his death from gastrointestinal bleeding and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
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