The Board has decided that the Veteran's service records are not available and remands for further action to attempt to obtain them. The Appellant is also advised to file a substantive appeal regarding her claim for death pension benefits.
The deciding factor: VA failed to exhaust all avenues to locate the Veteran's military personnel records, including National Guard records from his California National Guard service.
- Claimed conditions
- Cause of death (not specified)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 9, 2022
- Citation
- 22045175
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 22045175.
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 the appeal because the Appellant did not timely file a substantive appeal after receiving the SOC, and there were no circumstances that would warrant equitable tolling.
- Denied
The veteran died in June 2001. The appellant submitted a VA Form 21-534 for DIC benefits on April 28, 2003, which is the earliest effective date available given that no prior claim was filed within one year of the veteran's death.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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