The Board denied the widow's claim for service connection for cause of death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) as there was no evidence that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides or that his cause of death was related to his active-duty service.
The deciding factor: The persuasive weight of the evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's cause of death was causally related to his active-duty service, and he was not presumptively exposed to herbicides during his service in Korea.
- Claimed conditions
- cause of death
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2025
- Citation
- A25036657
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.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for cause of death due to a need for additional evidence, specifically an autopsy report and a medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, to include as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation, due to lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for cause of death due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error and the need for a VA medical opinion.
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