The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied, and the Board found that no earlier effective date could be assigned as the earliest claim received was on September 17, 1999.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not meet the evidentiary burden to establish all elements of a service connection claim for PTSD the first time he filed his claim as he failed to show a verified stressor. The effective date could only be assigned based on the earliest received claim, which was September 17, 1999.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19136127
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 19136127.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted a TDIU effective as of September 25, 2020, but not earlier. The Veteran's marginal income and service-connected disabilities precluded him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was initially denied in November 2023, but granted with an effective date of July 18, 2024. The Board has now determined that the correct effective date should be July 13, 2023, based on continuous pursuit and the Veteran's earlier diagnosis.
- Dismissed
The appeals for increased disability rating and service connection have been withdrawn by the appellant.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD), has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
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