Citation Nr: 18151722 Decision Date: 11/20/18 Archive Date: 11/19/18 DOCKET NO. 16-34 754 DATE: November 20, 2018 ORDER New and material evidence to reopen claim of service connection for right knee disability has been presented; to this extent, the appeal is granted. New and material evidence to reopen claim of service connection for left knee disability has been presented; to this extent, the appeal is granted Service connection for right knee disability is granted. Service connection for left knee disability is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran’s right knee condition had its onset in service. 2. The Veteran’s left knee condition had its onset in service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for a right knee condition have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 1132, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a). 2. The criteria for service connection for a left knee condition have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 1132, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had honorable active duty service in the United States Navy from November 1978 to October 1982. A subsequent period from October 1982 to March 1985 is not honorable for the purposes of obtaining VA compensation benefits. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2014 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran presented sworn testimony at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in August 2018. The Veteran previously submitted claims of entitlement to service connection for left and right knee conditions which were denied in a May 1997 rating decision. The claims were denied because it was determined that the Veteran’s knee conditions pre-existed service and was not aggravated during his period of honorable service. The Veteran appeal but following the issuance of an SOC, he did not file a Form 9 and the decision became final. In connection with the Veteran’s claim to reopen, the RO obtained VA medical records, school documentation, and lay statements disputing pre-existence of his knee injuries. Thus, the Board finds that new and material evidence has been received sufficient to reopen his previously denied claims. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a). Service Connection The Veteran asserts that he injured his right knee while on active duty during a basketball game and as a result began to favor his left leg causing pain in-service. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting in a disease or injury that is incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 U.S.C. § 3.303. To establish service connection for the claimed disorder, the following criteria must be met: (1): evidence of a current disability; (2) evidence of an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and current disability. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303; see also Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004); Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999). The Board finds that service connection is warranted for the Veteran’s left and right knee condition. The Veteran had right and left knee replacement and currently experiences pain and his in-service basketball game knee injury is documented in his service treatment records. See September 1980-October 1982 service treatment records. The Board notes the Veteran is presumed sound with respect to his knees because there are no notations of defects on entry. September 1980 service treatment records show the Veteran originally injured his right knee, and records later on that month show both of the Veteran’s knees were regularly giving out and persistently painful. Further, at the August 2018 hearing, the Veteran reports ongoing and continuous pain since he first injured his knee in-service and began to feel bilateral knee pain, which is consistent with the lay and medical evidence of record. The Veteran’s account of recurrent knee pain since service is both competent and credible. The Veteran’s statements are entitled to probative weight, as they are internally consistent and consistent with the evidence of record, showing that the Veteran had numerous complaints of knee pain as the   result of an in-service injury. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Thus, service connection is granted. STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD K.Ijitimehin, Associate Counsel