Citation Nr: 18158436 Decision Date: 12/14/18 Archive Date: 12/14/18 DOCKET NO. 14-17 846 DATE: December 14, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for heart disease, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, is granted. Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, he is presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange either due to setting foot on the land mass of the Republic of Vietnam or to have served along the base perimeter of Udorn Royal Thai Air Base. 2. The competent medical evidence of record establishes a current diagnosis of coronary artery disease/ischemic heart disease. 3. The competent medical evidence of record establishes a current diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Ischemic heart disease is presumed to have been incurred in service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1116, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304, 3.307, 3.309. 2. Diabetes mellitus is presumed to have been incurred in service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1116, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from April 1965 to October 1968. The Veteran contends that his current diabetes mellitus and heart disease are the result of exposure to herbicide agents, such as Agent Orange, during his military service. The Veteran has submitted written statements and testified that on the way from California to his station in Thailand in 1967, his airplane stopped at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, and that he got out of the airplane during this layover of about 4 to 5 hours. He stated that they stopped in Vietnam for a layover again on his way home in 1968. The Veteran has also asserted that while stationed at Udorn Air Base in Thailand, in addition to his regular duties as an aerospace photo systems repairman, he assisted military police by performing guard duty near a munitions supply depot located on the perimeter of Udorn Air Base. He estimated that about 40 percent of his duty day was spent assisting the military police rather than working as a photo systems repairman. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Regulations also provide that service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). A veteran who served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period from January 9, 1962 to May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii). The law establishes a presumption of entitlement to service connection for diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents even though there is no record of such disease in service. See 38 U.S.C. § 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(e). Diseases associated with such exposure include ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). VA procedures for verifying exposure to herbicides in Thailand during the Vietnam Era are detailed in the VA Adjudication Manual, M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 1, Section H ("M21-1"). VA has determined that there was significant use of herbicides on the fenced-in perimeters of military bases in Thailand intended to eliminate vegetation and ground cover for base security purposes. Special consideration of herbicide agent exposure on a facts-found or direct basis should be extended to those veterans whose duties placed them on or near the perimeters of Thailand military bases. See M21-1, Part IV.ii.1.H.5.a. If a veteran served in the U.S. Air Force in Thailand during the Vietnam era at U-Tapao, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, Udorn, Takhli, Korat or Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB) as an Air Force security policeman, security patrol dog handler, member of a security police squadron, or otherwise served near the air base perimeter, as shown by MOS (military occupational specialty), performance evaluations, or other credible evidence, herbicide exposure should be conceded on a facts-found or direct basis. See M21-1, Part IV.ii.1.H.5.b. In this case, the Veteran has current diagnoses of both ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus. The Veteran’s VA and private treatment records clearly show that he has been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and takes oral medication for the treatment of this condition. A July 2012 Disability Benefits Questionnaire completed by private physician G.H. stated that the Veteran had a myocardial infarction in 1999 and has been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, and that this condition qualified within the generally accepted medical definition of ischemic heart disease. The Veteran’s VA treatment records also show a diagnosis of chronic ischemic heart disease. VA has made many attempts to verify the Veteran’s reports of travelling to Vietnam on his way to and from Thailand, but has been unable to do so. The Veteran’s service personnel records show that he served at Udorn Air Base, Thailand, from approximately July 12, 1967 to July 31, 1968 as an aerospace photo systems repairman. VA was notified in February 2017 by the Air Force Historical Research Agency that passenger manifests for successful flights to Thailand were destroyed within 90 days, as such documents were not considered to be permanent records. The Air Force Historical Research Agency also wrote that while specific military aircraft history could be researched, civilian contractor flight information was not available. The Veteran wrote in August 2017 that he did fly to Thailand on a commercial airline flight, which indicates to the Board that further research to verify the flight path of this airplane is not possible. Despite VA’s inability to verify the Veteran’s reports of landing in Vietnam, the Board finds that there is no evidence to challenge the credibility of the claim that the Veteran flew into South Vietnam and spent a short layover there on his way to and from Thailand. Further, there is no evidence to challenge the credibility that the appellant performed collateral duties along the perimeter of Udorn Royal Thai Airbase. It must be noted that the appellant is competent to offer his recollections of his duties and travels while on active duty. Accordingly, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, he is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents inservice. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307. In sum, the Veteran’s VA treatment records show that he has been diagnosed with coronary artery disease/ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus. As the Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to herbicides in service, it is presumed that these disorders were incurred in service even without evidence of those diseases during service. 38 U.S.C. § 1116(a); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(6), 3.309(e). As such, entitlement to service connection for heart disease and diabetes mellitus, as secondary to herbicide agent exposure, is warranted. The benefits sought on appeal are granted. See Wise v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 517, 531 (2014) (“By requiring only an ‘approximate balance of positive and negative evidence’ the Nation, ‘in recognition of our debt to our veterans,’ has ‘taken upon itself the risk of error’ in awarding... benefits.”). DEREK R. BROWN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Mary E. Rude, Counsel