The Board has restored service connection for Ischemic Heart Disease, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Diabetes Mellitus type II, Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower left extremity sciatic nerve, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower right extremity sciatic nerve, and Hypertension. The Board found that the original grant of service connection was not clearly erroneous due to the Veteran's exposure along the DMZ in Korea.
The deciding factor: The Veteran provided evidence showing he served near the DMZ during his active duty, which is sufficient to establish herbicide exposure for purposes of presumptive service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Diabetes Mellitus type II (diabetes), Chronic Kidney Disease stage III (kidney disease), Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower left extremity sciatic nerve (LLE neuropathy), Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower right extremity sciatic nerve (RLE neuropathy), Hypertension (HTN)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 9, 2026
- Citation
- A26020766
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 A26020766.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
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