The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for type II diabetes mellitus and colon cancer due to potential exposure to herbicide agents during his active naval service. The claim for type II diabetes mellitus is being remanded because the personnel records are incomplete, while the claim for colon cancer requires further examination if exposure to herbicide agents is established.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's claims for service connection were not properly addressed due to incomplete personnel records and potential exposure to herbicide agents during his active naval service. The claims will be remanded to obtain these records and determine if exposure occurred within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- Type II diabetes mellitus, Colon cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20006221
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · Granted: 27% (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 20006221.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for Type II diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy, finding that these conditions are related to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected colon cancer disability, finding that there is inadequate evidence to support a compensable rating prior to March 23, 2021 and no increase in rating thereafter.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, finding that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his service at Udorn RTAFB and thus meets the criteria for presumptive service connection.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, finding that his service-connected left ankle disability, lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, left knee pain, left hip pain, and loss of use of the left big toe disabilities have caused him to become obese, which in turn led to his development of type II diabetes mellitus.
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