The Board has determined that the appellant's spouse did not have a service-connected disability at the time of his death, and therefore, he could not be granted service connection for the cause of his death. The appellant's spouse also had no pending claims for nonservice-connected pension benefits or accrued benefits at the time of his death. As such, these claims are denied.
The deciding factor: The veteran died from cardio-respiratory arrest due to acute myocardial infarction and did not have a service-connected disability that contributed substantially or materially to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute myocardial infarction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 2, 2006
- Citation
- 0622940
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 0622940.
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
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- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service aboard the USS White Plains in the territorial waters off of Vietnam, combined with credible observations by a fellow sailor, entitles the appellant to presumptive service connection for exposure to herbicide agents. As such, the cause of the Veteran’s death is now considered service-connected.
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