The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been presented to reopen the issue of the character of the appellant's discharge from military service, and as a result, the character of his discharge is no longer considered a bar to VA benefits.
The deciding factor: The Veteran provided testimony regarding his mental health struggles following his combat injuries which led to his going AWOL. This evidence was found to be new and material as it relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim, namely the state of mind at the time of the prolonged absence from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple shell fragment wounds, Wounding by an eight inch rocket
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 26, 2013
- Citation
- 1327201
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 1327201.
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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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Denied
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- Denied
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