Citation Nr: 18143183
Decision Date: 10/18/18	Archive Date: 10/18/18

DOCKET NO. 15-31 969
DATE:	October 18, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to an effective date of June 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for major depressive disorder is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to service connection for major depressive disorder was received by VA on June 19, 2013.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to an effective date of June 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for major depressive disorder have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.400.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from July 1963 to July 1965.  This matter comes before the Board on appeal from an April 2015 Regional Office (RO) rating decision.  In October 2018, the Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.
Entitlement to an effective date of June 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for major depressive disorder is granted.
Generally, the effective date for an award of service connection is the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.  38 U.S.C. § 5110(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(b).  
In the case at hand, the Veteran was granted entitlement to service connection for major depressive disorder in an October 2014 rating decision.  This decision assigned a 50 percent rating with an effective date of June 18, 2014, based on a finding that the Veteran’s service connection claim had been received on that date.  The Veteran has disagreed with this effective date, asserting that the effective date should have been in June 2013.
The Veteran has presented his contentions in his April 2015 notice of disagreement and at his October 2018 Board hearing.  The Veteran contends that his accredited representative at the time, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) and the Anoka County Veteran Services Office (Anoka County) originally filed his claim in June 2013.  A copy of the original claim form, signed and dated June 19, 2013, as well as the original fax cover sheet from Anoka County to the VFW, also dated June 19, 2013, have been associated with the record.  
The Veteran has noted that Anoka County resubmitted the claim in December 2013, but that VA had no record of this submission either.  Anoka County again submitted the claim in June 2014.  In its June 2014 cover letter, Anoka County noted that they were resubmitting a claim that had previously been submitted from their office through VFW in June 2013.  The letter notes that the claim had previously been submitted but that the Veteran had never heard from VA.  Anoka County also resubmitted the original claim form and their original cover letter. 
The Veteran’s account of events is consistent with the June 2014 statement that was submitted by Anoka County when it resubmitted his claim.  The Board finds that his account is highly credible and is sufficiently corroborated by the evidence of record.  Therefore, resolving any reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, entitlement to an effective date of June 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for major depressive disorder is warranted. 
 
TANYA SMITH
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Elizabeth Jalley