The Board found that the appellant's discharge was under dishonorable conditions due to willful and persistent misconduct, which bars him from receiving VA benefits.
The deciding factor: The appellant's offenses were severe and amounted to willful and persistent misconduct, resulting in a discharge under other than honorable conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Other than Honorable Discharge
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0939744
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 0939744.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board determined that the appellant's service constituted a bar to VA benefits due to misconduct, and his discharge was under other than honorable conditions.
- Granted
The Board found that the appellant's discharge was not due to willful and persistent misconduct, thus not a bar to VA benefits.
- Partly granted
The Board has reopened the appellant's claim and found new evidence that raises a reasonable possibility of finding that the appellant was insane at the time he went AWOL, which could potentially remove the bar to VA benefits. However, the Board also concluded that the appellant accepted an undesirable discharge to escape trial by court martial, which still serves as a bar to VA benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The veteran's discharge from military service on May 16, 1975, was deemed to be under conditions which constitute a bar to the payment of VA benefits. The Board is remanding this matter for further development and consideration.
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