The Board has denied the appellant's claim for eligibility to VA death pension benefits as a surviving spouse due to lack of recognized service in active military duty. The NPRC certified that the decedent's only service was with the Philippine Commonwealth Army, which is not considered qualifying service for pension purposes.
The deciding factor: The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) certified that the decedent's only recognized service was with the Philippine Commonwealth Army from October 1941 to December 1941 and from October 1945 to April 1946. Recognized service has not been certified by the service department, nor has any evidence issued by the service department been submitted. As service with the Philippine Commonwealth Army is excluded for pension purposes, the requirements for basic eligibility for VA death benefits have not been met.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 6, 2006
- Citation
- 0638002
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,419 · Granted: 21% (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 0638002.
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