Citation Nr: 19106295
Decision Date: 01/25/19	Archive Date: 01/25/19

DOCKET NO. 17-25 928
DATE:	January 25, 2019

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for the residuals of lung cancer is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his period of service at the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base in 1969 and 1970 and currently manifests the residuals of lung cancer which became manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more many years after military service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for entitlement to service connection for the residuals of lung cancer have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113 (2018); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.309 (2018).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1968 to January 1972.

This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois.

Entitlement to service connection for the residuals of lung cancer.

At issue is whether the Veteran is entitled to service connection for the residuals of lung cancer.  He provided lay statements that he was exposed to herbicide agents during his service at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base.  He asserts that his job as an inventory management specialist required that he deliver aircraft parts to the flight line.  He was exposed to Agent Orange which was used to clear vegetation around the flight line to prevent attacks on aircraft.  He also asserts that he was required to perform guard duty around the perimeter of the base for 30-day periods, as were other airmen.   The Veteran’s statements are corroborated by his military personnel records which indicate that he was stationed at the Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base and verify his military occupational specialty.  Therefore, the weight of the evidence indicates that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his military service in Thailand.  

The Veteran’s treatment records indicate that he underwent resection of right lung carcinoma in 2012.  It is unclear how disabling the Veteran’s post-operative residuals of lung cancer currently are, but the fact that the Veteran had to undergo major surgery to remove part of his lung indicates that the Veteran’s lung condition was severe enough to warrant a compensable evaluation for at least some portion of time after separation from service.  Therefore, the Veteran is currently manifesting the residuals of lung cancer (a type of respiratory cancer) that manifested to a compensable degree sometime after separation from service, and 

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service connection for the residuals of lung cancer is granted.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.309.

 

BARBARA B. COPELAND

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	David R. Seaton, Associate Counsel