Citation Nr: 18110830 Decision Date: 06/13/18 Archive Date: 06/13/18 DOCKET NO. 15-11 692 DATE: June 13, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Veteran had active service in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam Era. 2. It is presumed that the Veteran’s current ischemic heart disease is related to his military service, to include exposure to herbicide agents. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for ischemic heart disease as related to exposure to herbicide agents are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5103, 5103A, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION A veteran is entitled to VA disability compensation if there is a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. Generally, to establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a veteran must show: (1) a present disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service, the so-called “nexus” requirement. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The laws and regulations pertaining to Agent Orange exposure provide for a presumption of service connection due to exposure to herbicide agents for veterans who have a disease listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e), and who served on active duty in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam Era. 38 U.S.C. § 1116; 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a). A disease associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e) will be considered to have been incurred in service under the circumstances outlined in that section, even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii). Ischemic heart disease is such a disease. VA has validly interpreted the “service in the Republic of Vietnam” language of the statute and regulation as requiring that a veteran must have actually been present at some point on the landmass or the inland waters of Vietnam during the Vietnam Era. See Haas v. Peake, 525 F.3d 1168 (Fed. Cir. 2008). In Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990), the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims stated that “a veteran need only demonstrate that there is an ‘approximate balance of positive and negative evidence’ in order to prevail.” To deny a claim on its merits, the preponderance of the evidence must be against the claim. See Alemany v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 518, 519 (1996) (citing Gilbert, 1 Vet. App. at 54). The Veteran’s private treatment records confirm a current diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. See July 2011 statement from Dr. B.C.S.; August 2006 North Shore University Hospital catheterization laboratory report (coronary artery disease). The Veteran has repeatedly and consistently asserted that during active duty from May to November 1965, he served on the U.S.S. Independence as an aviation machinist mate jets, ADJ3, and was assigned to unit VA86 as an aircraft mechanic maintaining and servicing aircraft. The Veteran contends that on numerous occasions he was sent off the ship to Da Nang, Vietnam to check aircraft for damage, or repair and maintain aircraft. See April 2015 Veteran statement with VA Form 9; September 2011 Veteran statement. VA was unable to confirm the Veteran’s service on the landmass or in the inland waters of the Republic of Vietnam through the Veteran’s available service records. However, the Veteran’s service personnel and treatment records confirm he served on the U.S.S. Independence (CVA-62) from June 1965 to December 1965, was attached to unit Attack Squadron 86 (VA-86), and served as an aviation machinist’s mate (ADJ3) for jet engine maintenance. In September 2011, the National Personnel Records Center confirmed that Attack Squadron 86 was credited with Vietnam service for various periods between June 1965 and November 1965. In February 2015, the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) confirmed that Attack Squadron 86 was assigned to the U.S.S. Independence, and that from June 1965 to August 1965 the U.S.S. Independence conducted Special Operations in the South China Sea and on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. The JSRRC also indicated that an August 1965 deck log revealed that the ship’s Carrier On-board Delivery aircraft had crashed upon approach to landing in Da Nang Air Base. Accordingly, the Board finds the Veteran’s reports of being sent from the U.S.S. Independence to Da Nang to perform inspections and maintenance on aircraft as part of Attack Squadron 86 credible, as they are consistent with the places, types, and circumstances of the Veteran’s service. The Board therefore affords the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, and finds that he set foot in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam Era. Accordingly, the Board finds the Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a). Finally, as the Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents, and because ischemic heart disease is a disease listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e) as a disease associated with exposure to herbicide agents, service connection is presumed for the Veteran’s current ischemic heart disease. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Accordingly, the Board finds that a grant of service connection is warranted for ischemic heart disease as due to exposure to herbicide agents. DONNIE R. HACHEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Delhauer, Associate Counsel