Citation Nr: 0811255 Decision Date: 04/04/08 Archive Date: 04/14/08 DOCKET NO. 06-28 617 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Houston, Texas THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 2. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. 3. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Texas Veterans Commission ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD K. J. Kunz, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from November 1942 to December 1945. This appeal comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a June 2006 rating decision by the Houston, Texas Regional Office (RO) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In that decision, the RO denied service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. The veteran died in February 2008. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The veteran appealed a June 2006 rating decision denying service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. 2. The veteran died in February 2008, prior to a decision by the Board on the appeal. CONCLUSION OF LAW Because of the death of the veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of his claim. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 7104(a), 7108 (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2007). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The veteran appealed to the Board the June 2006 rating decision denying service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. In October 2006, he wrote that he wished to withdraw his claim for service connection for PTSD. He continued his appeal for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. Unfortunately, the veteran died while his appeal was pending before the Board. The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit both have indicated that, as a matter of law, claims for veterans' benefits do not survive the death of the claimant. Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F.3d 1236, 1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Smith v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 330, 333-34 (1997); Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 47 (1994). This appeal on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the appellant, and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 7104(a), 7108; 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. In reaching this determination, the Board intimates no opinion as to the merits of this appeal or of any derivative claim brought by a survivor of the veteran. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106 (2007). ORDER The appeal is dismissed. ____________________________________________ M. E. LARKIN Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Department of Veterans Affairs