Citation Nr: 20004022 Decision Date: 01/16/20 Archive Date: 01/16/20 DOCKET NO. 13-35 534 DATE: January 16, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease (CAD), including as due to herbicide exposure, is granted. Entitlement to service connection for Parkinson’s disease, including as due to herbicide exposure, is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran is diagnosed with CAD, an ischemic heart disease, and Parkinson’s Disease. 2. The Veteran served aboard the USS Everett F. Larson from January 1972 to November 1972. 2. Records show that in April 1972, the USS Everett F. Larson sailed within 12 miles of the Vietnam coast for purposes of providing naval gunfire support. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for CAD, including as due to herbicide exposure, are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309 (2019). 2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for Parkinson’s disease, including as due to herbicide exposure are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309 (2019).. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from June 1971 to September 1977 and is a Vietnam War Veteran with a Combat Action Ribbon. This case comes before the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2011 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In April 2018, the Board denied entitlement to service connection for CAD or Parkinson’s disease, including as due to herbicide exposure and/or secondary to PTSD. The Veteran filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals of Veterans Claims (CAVC) contesting the Board’s April 2018 decision. In June 2019, on the basis of a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), CAVC vacated and remanded the Board’s decision for further consideration. The matter is now before the Board again for further appellate review. CAVC found the Board failed to support its decision with an adequate statement or reasons or bases. The CAVC found that the Board relied upon Haas v. Peake, 525 F.3d 1168 (Fed. Cir. 2008), which held that VA’s requirement a Veteran must have set foot on the landmass of Vietnam or served in the inland waters of Vietnam for the herbicide exposure presumption. However, Haas was overturned in Procopio v. Wilkie, 913 F. 3d 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2019). In Procopio, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that Veterans who served in the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam were entitlement to presumptive service connection if they satisfied the other requirements of 38 U.S.C. § 1116. Procopio, 913 F. 3d at 1380-81. The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 legislatively extended the presumption of exposure to herbicide agents to those veterans who served within the 12 nautical miles of Vietnam. See Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, H.R. 299, 116th Cong. (2019), now codified at 38 U.S.C. § 1116A. Review of the record reveals that the Veteran has submitted copies of deck log entries for the destroyer USS Everett F. Larson, which show that in April 1972, the ship sailed to coordinates within the 12-mile limit. Further, while there, the ship’s mission was as Naval gunfire support in connection with operations on land. As the ship’s armament at the time (5 inch guns) had only a 10 mile range, the ship must have been closer to shore than the 12-mile limit. Moreover, the Board notes that closing with the coast of Vietnam is consistent with the Navy’s acknowledgement that it served on the Mekong River in December 1967. Exposure to herbicides is established by presumption under 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a). Both CAD (as an ischemic heart disease) and Parkinson’s Disease are presumptive conditions for herbicide exposed Veterans. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). As diagnoses for both conditions are established in current medical records, service connection on a presumptive basis is warranted. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board S. Baxter 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.