The Veteran died in 2016 and had no service-connected disabilities at the time of his death. Therefore, he was not eligible for nonservice-connected burial benefits.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have a pending claim or receive VA disability compensation at the time of his death.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory arrest, hemoptysis, non-small cell lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19153184
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,893 · Granted: 31% (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 19153184.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to their death. The claims for adjustment disorder with depressed mood and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as non-small cell lung cancer, are now closed.
- Dismissed
Your appeal for service connection for non-small cell lung cancer has been dismissed because the appellant died during the pendency of your appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cause of death to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error related to the Veteran's exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left ankle disability manifested by pain and disability manifested by chest pain, but denied service connection for hemoptysis and left lower extremity radiculopathy. The claims of service connection for dizziness as secondary to tinnitus and right lower extremity disability were remanded.
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