The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for PTSD was granted, establishing the effective date to May 24, 1991.
The deciding factor: A service department record establishing the veteran's award of the Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) had not been associated with the claims folder at the time of the Board's August 1996 decision which denied service connection for PTSD. By operation of the current version of 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c), the new and material standard does not apply, and the veteran's claim must be reconsidered to the time of his initial filing.
- Claimed conditions
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 12, 2009
- Citation
- 0901210
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (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 0901210.
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
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