Citation Nr: 20003569 Decision Date: 01/16/20 Archive Date: 01/15/20 DOCKET NO. 14-28 511 DATE: January 16, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to service connection diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted. FINDING OF FACT 1. Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, he was exposed to herbicides while in service. 2. diabetes mellitus, type II, is related to herbicide exposure. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309(e) (2019); Public Law 116-23, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act 2019, effective Jan. 1, 2020. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1971 to August 1973. The Veteran presented testimony before the Board in December 2017. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the record. Most recently, this matter was before the Board in December 2018, at which time it was remanded for further development. The appeal has returned to the Board for final adjudication. Entitlement to service connection diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted. The Board finds that service connection is warranted for diabetes mellitus, type II. Within certain parameters, service connection shall be granted for certain diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, even though there is no record of such disease during service. See 38 U.S.C. § 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(e), 3.313. The diseases entitled to presumptive service connection due to exposure to certain herbicide agents include diabetes mellitus, type II, for which the Veteran has a diagnosis. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (e); and see e.g., VA treatment record, June 2017. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act 2019 (BWN Act), signed into law in June 2019, extends the presumption to veterans who served offshore of the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. See BWN Act, Pub. L. No. 116-23. The BWN Act defines “offshore” as a location “not more than 12 nautical miles seaward of a line commencing on the southwestern demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia and intersecting” eleven points of latitude and longitude listed in a table. Id. The Board has acquired deck logs from the USS Roark that show that it was moored portside to the USS Samuel Gompers in April 1972, while the USS Samuel Gompers was anchored in Da Nang Harbor, Republic of Vietnam. In addition, a report from the Defense Personnel Records Information Retrieval System (DPRIS) reveals that the USS Roark conducted Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS) operations in the coastal waters of the Republic of Vietnam in April 1972. The Veteran’s military personnel records show that he served on the USS Roark during this time. Accordingly, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that he is entitled to a presumption of herbicide exposure. As the Veteran has a diagnosed disability, presumed to be associated with exposure to herbicides, and the Board concedes herbicide exposure, service connection is warranted. Accordingly, service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted. E. I. VELEZ Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. Foster, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.