Citation Nr: 18159429 Decision Date: 12/20/18 Archive Date: 12/19/18 DOCKET NO. 14-39 429 DATE: December 20, 2018 ORDER Service connection for ischemic heart disease (IHD) is granted. Service connection for prostate cancer is granted. Service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has a diagnosis of IHD, prostate cancer, and diabetes mellitus, type II. 2. The Veteran’s unit served at Camp Coiner, approximately 27 miles from the Korean DMZ. 3. The Veteran was stationed in Korea from May 1968 to June 1969. 4. The Veteran’s military occupational specialty (MOS) as a communication center specialist and switchboard operator required that he act as a messenger carrier. 5. Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, while stationed in Korea, the Veteran delivered messages throughout and near the Korean DMZ and was exposed to herbicides, including Agent Orange. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for IHD have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1116, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307(a)(6)(iv), 3.309(e). 2. The criteria for service connection for prostate cancer have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1116, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307(a)(6)(iv), 3.309(e). 3. The criteria for diabetes mellitus, type II have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1116, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307(a)(6)(iv), 3.309(e). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from December 1967 to February 1971, with service in Korea from May 1968 to June 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2012 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran presented sworn testimony in December 2015 before a Veterans Law Judge that is no longer with the Board. He was offered the opportunity to request a second hearing be held, but declined to do so. The Board previously denied these claims for service connection in March 2017. In May 2018, the Secretary of VA and a representative of the Veteran filed a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR). In the JMR, the parties agreed that the Board failed to provide an adequate statement of reasons and bases by failing to address the competence and credibility of the Veteran’s contentions that he traveled to other units located in and near the Korean DMZ as a messenger for purposes of determining whether he was exposed to Agent Orange. Service Connection 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. §1110; 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). Additionally, VA regulations provide that certain diseases associated with exposure to herbicide agents may be presumed to have been incurred in service even if there is no evidence of the disease in service, provided the requirements of 38 C.F.R. 3.307(a)(6) are met. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309. Specifically, a Veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served between April 1, 1968, and August 31, 1971, in a unit that, as determined by the Department of Defense (DoD), operated in or near the Korean DMZ in an area in which herbicides are known to have been applied during that period, 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)(iv). Once exposure has been established by the evidence, the presumptions found at 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e) are applicable. Ischemic heart disease, prostate cancer, and diabetes mellitus, type II are among the diseases deemed associated with herbicide exposure. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). Herbicide Exposure As the Veteran, has a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, prostate cancer, and diabetes mellitus, type II, the issue before the Board is whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during his service in Korea. Further, the Board notes it is not disputed that herbicides were used in the Korean DMZ, rather it is disputed whether the Veteran visited areas in or around the Korean DMZ. Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that there is sufficient evidence that the Veteran visited areas in and around the Korean DMZ. At his December 2015 hearing, the Veteran testified that while serving in Korea he was a messenger carrier and regularly delivered classified material in and around the Korean DMZ, to include bases at Camp Red Cloud and Camp Casey. He further testified that he was primarily stationed at Camp Coiner. Military personnel records show the Veteran was stationed in Korea from May 1968 to June 1969. The Board notes the contention that a review of the unit history does not document specific duties performed by the unit members along the DMZ. However, the joint service records research center (JSRRC) confirm the Veteran’s unit was stationed at Camp Coiner, located approximately 27 miles from the Korean DMZ. The Army post office (APO) for the Veteran’s unit was listed in Yongsan, Korea. See January 2012 correspondence. His authority was classified as secret. Id. The Veteran’s testimony that his military occupational specialty (MOS) was communications center specialist is confirmed by his certificate of release from active duty (DD-214). Here, the duties of a communications center specialist are consistent with the Veteran’s allegations. Further, the Veteran competently and credibly reports that as part of his MOS duties he and a fellow service member traveled once or twice a week by jeep to military camps in the Korean DMZ to deliver classified messages. The Board notes that there is no basis in the record to question the Veteran's credibility regarding his statements as to his circumstances of service. The Veteran's lay statements have remained consistent throughout the appeal period, are facially plausible, given the ad-hoc, impromptu need to deliver messages during a period of war, have included a sufficient amount of detail after an extensive period of time has passed, and have been supported by other evidence of record. See Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 511 (1995) (when determining whether lay evidence is satisfactory, the Board may properly consider, internal consistency, facial plausibility, and consistency with other evidence submitted on behalf of the client). Thus, the Board finds the Veteran's accounts of his service in Korea both competent and credible. Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2006) ("The Board, as fact finder, is obligated to, and fully justified in, determining whether lay evidence is credible in and of itself, i.e., because of possible bias, conflicting statements, etc."). Resolving all reasonable doubt in the favor of the Veteran, the Board finds the evidence is in favor of concluding that coincident with the Veteran’s service as a communication center specialist he served in the Korean DMZ. As there is a presumption of both exposure to herbicide agents (including Agent Orange) and service connection for IHD, prostate cancer, and diabetes mellitus, type II, service connection for these disabilities is warranted. See 38 U.S.C. § 116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(6)(iv); 3.309(e). TRACIE N. WESNER Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD K.Ijitimehin, Associate Counsel