Citation Nr: 21002551 Decision Date: 01/14/21 Archive Date: 01/14/21 DOCKET NO. 20-07 773 DATE: January 14, 2021 ORDER The claim for service connection for prostate cancer, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran’s duties with the 19th Aviation Company stationed in Pyeongtaek, Korea, took him into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on multiple occasions in 1969. 2. The Veteran is presumed exposed to herbicides in service as a result of his Korean service. 3. Prostate cancer is presumed due to herbicide exposure. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for prostate cancer are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.309(a)(6)(iv). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1968 to January 1971. This case arises before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) from a February 2019 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in a Videoconference Hearing in January 2021. This decision is being rendered prior to the production of a transcript of that hearing; however, as the claim is being granted in full, the Veteran is not prejudiced. The Veteran asserts his prostate cancer is the result of exposure to Agent Orange and testified that he flew back and forth to the DMZ of Korea in 1969. The Board finds the evidence supports his contentions. Service connection will be granted if it is shown that a Veteran has a disability resulting from an injury or disease contracted in the line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury or disease contracted in the line of duty in the active military, naval or air service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. “To establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a veteran must show: ‘(1) the existence of a present disability; (2) 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.” Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (quoting Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004)). In certain cases, competent lay evidence may demonstrate the presence of any of these elements. Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that a disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). A veteran shall be service connected for certain disease, including prostate cancer, if exposed to an herbicide agent during active military, naval, or air service, if the requirements of 38 U.S.C. § 1116 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (a)(6)(iii), (iv) are met, even though there is no record of such disease during service, provided further that the rebuttable presumption provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 1113 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (d) are also satisfied. 38 U.S.C. §§ 501 (a), 1116; 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (e). In making all determinations, the Board must fully consider the lay assertions of record. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994) (a Veteran is competent to report on that of which he or she has personal knowledge); see also Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1376-77 (Fed. Cir. 2007). As an initial matter, VA examination in November 2018 establishes that the Veteran has a diagnosis of prostate cancer. Thus, the first element of Shedden is met. Turning to the in-service incurrence, service personnel records show the Veteran’s military occupational specialty (MOS) was as an aircraft electrician (68F30), and that he was assigned as a helicopter mechanic to the 19th Aviation Company, APO 96271 (Pyeongtaek, Korea) in 1969. Research by United States Defense Personnel Records Information services, however, showed that the Veteran’s unit had not been stationed near the DMZ, and that no personnel from the unit was assigned duties at the DMZ. Notwithstanding, the Veteran testified that his duties involved ferrying equipment, parts, and individuals to and from the DMZ, and that he also flew in and out of the DMZ to repair equipment in 1969. As evidence, he presents his own testimony and diaries reflecting flights to and from the DMZ. His diaries, which he has kept his entire life, show he was required to fly to the DMZ on several occasions in 1969 to deliver parts, repair equipment, and to accompany high ranking personnel whose duties required their presence at the DMZ. This includes flying a United States Marine Corps General to the DMZ for to retrieve downed air crew members who had been held since they had been shot down. The Board finds the Veteran to be a highly credible witness. In review of the evidence, the Board finds that the Veteran’s duties as an aircraft electrician and helicopter mechanic for the 19th Aviation Company in Korea are sufficient to make him a credible witness of his flights into and out of the DMZ, as such is entirely consistent with the duties of his MOS. Copies of his handwritten diaries, read into the record at the hearing, further corroborate his account. His exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange is thus conceded. The second element of Shedden is met. Prostate cancer is a disease that is presumptively service connected for Veterans who have been exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange and whose duties involved service in or near the DMZ in Korea between April 1, 1968 and August 31, 1971. The Veteran meets this criterion, and thus the third element of Shedden is met by the presumption afforded under 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iv). Accordingly, service connection for prostate cancer is warranted. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Bakke, Lila J. 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.