The Board has determined that the veteran's current lumbar spine disability, including a lumbar strain, is service-connected due to an in-service accident where he ran over a landmine while operating a bulldozer. The evidence of record falls at least in relative equipoise regarding the origin of the disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran's account of his in-service injury was corroborated by contemporaneous newspaper reports, and both medical opinions considered the possibility of post-service work contributing to the current condition but concluded that the initial injury during service is more likely related to the veteran's lumbar strain.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, lumbar strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0636017
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 680 · Granted: 24% (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 0636017.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee disability, right knee disability, lumbar spine disability, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as these issues have been addressed in a separate docket.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus. Service connection is being remanded for the lumbar spine disability and right knee and calf disabilities.
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