The Veteran's death was caused by metastatic prostate cancer. The appellant contends that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his military service, and seeks service connection for the cause of his death on this basis. However, the evidence is insufficient to determine whether the USS Saratoga served within 12 nautical miles of the Republic of Vietnam at any point during its tenure in the offshore waters of Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not confirm the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents due to his service on the USS Saratoga, which may have been outside the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic prostate cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19133154
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,890 · Granted: 32% (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 19133154.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Servicemember's cause of death, including ALS, myasthenia gravis, and metastatic prostate cancer, as they were not incurred during or related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation for service connection for metastatic prostate cancer, as well as the claim for service connection for cause of death due to a duty to assist error. The remand is necessary because the VA examiner did not address whether the Veteran's TCE exposure during service was related to his prostate cancer.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam, including Agent Orange. The decision is based on the presumption that the Veteran was exposed during his service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's metastatic prostate cancer, which contributed to his death, was related to his in-service toxic exposures at Camp Lejeune.
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