The veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing or following substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and industrial background.
The deciding factor: The combined rating for the five service-connected disabilities is 60 percent, which meets the minimum schedular criteria for a TDIU. However, the residuals of the shell fragment wounds did not prevent the veteran from performing manual labor as late as almost 40 years following his discharge from service.
- Claimed conditions
- shrapnel wound of the left shoulder, shrapnel wound of the right calf with scars, shrapnel wound of the left elbow, shrapnel wound of the right upper arm, bilateral hearing loss disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0611346
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,325 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0611346.
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 Board has granted service connection for tinnitus but has remanded the issue of service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability due to inadequate examination and reasoning.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus, finding that there is no credible evidence linking these conditions to his active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus due to errors in providing notice of his right to a pre-decisional hearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus but has remanded the claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
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