Citation Nr: 0814965 Decision Date: 05/06/08 Archive Date: 05/12/08 DOCKET NO. 07-34 358 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Boise, Idaho THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for glioblastoma multiforme to include as due to exposure to Agent Orange. REPRESENTATION Veteran represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Debbie A. Riffe, Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran, who is the appellant, served on active duty from May 1969 to July 1971. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision in June 2006 of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Boise, Idaho. In December 2007, the veteran's representative, on behalf of the veteran, submitted a motion to advance the veteran's case on the docket. For good cause shown, the motion for advancement on the docket was granted in April 2008. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7107(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c). FINDING OF FACT Before the Board promulgated a decision on the appeal of service connection for glioblastoma multiforme to include as due to exposure to Agent Orange, the veteran died. CONCLUSION OF LAW Due to the death of the veteran, the Board does not have appellate jurisdiction to review the claim of service connection for glioblastoma multiforme to include as due to exposure to Agent Orange. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2007). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION In April 2008, the Board received a Motion to Dismiss the Appeal from the veteran's representative because the veteran had died in March 2008. In May 2008, in a report of contact between the Board and the veteran's sister, the veteran's sister stated that she was present when her brother, the veteran, passed away. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.211(e), in lieu of a public record of the veteran's death, the Board accepts the statement of the veteran's sister as establishing the veteran's death. At the time of the veteran's death he had a pending appeal on the claim of service connection for glioblastoma multiforme to include as due to exposure to Agent Orange As the veteran's death comes during the pendency of his appeal, as a matter of law, the appeal does not survive the veteran's death, and the appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302; Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F.3d 1236, 1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Smith v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 330, 333-34 (1997); and Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 47 (1994). ORDER The appeal of the claim of service connection for glioblastoma multiforme to include as due to exposure to Agent Orange is dismissed. ____________________________________________ George E. Guido Jr. Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Department of Veterans Affairs