Citation Nr: 21069718 Decision Date: 11/19/21 Archive Date: 11/19/21 DOCKET NO. 18-43 890 DATE: November 19, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a left flank scar (claimed as scar, left side above hip) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Board resolves reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor by finding that his left flank scar is a residual of his in-service left flank injury. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for service connection for his left flank scar have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1967 to May 1970. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2018 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This matter was first before the Board in April 2020, at which time the Board reopened and denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left hip scar. The Veteran subsequently appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In July 2021, the Court, in pertinent part, granted the parties' Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), remanding the left hip scar claim for further action consistent with the JMPR. Service connection for left flank scar The Veteran contends that he incurred a scar on his "left side above hip" in a 1969 in-service motor vehicle accident in Vietnam when the jeep he was a passenger in rolled over and his footlocker struck his left side causing a deep gash. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Generally, in order to prove service connection, there must be competent, credible evidence of (1) a current disability, (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease, and (3) a nexus, or link, between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. See, e.g., Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Pond v. West, 12 Vet. App. 341 (1999). The Veteran underwent a July 2018 VA examination at which the examiner documented an 11 cm by 0.5 cm scar "located on the left flank proximal to hip joint." Thus, the question becomes whether this scar is related to the Veteran's service. On this question there is evidence both in favor of and against the Veteran's claim. The evidence against the claim includes the opinion provided by the 2018 VA examiner, who opined that the Veteran's current scar is less likely than not related to the injury to his left side from the January 1969 motor vehicle accident. The examiner cited an April 1969 service treatment record noting that the Veteran's "[w]ounds, open, left flank and forearm . . . [h]ealed on admission to this hospital." The examiner opined that, as there are no other records regarding the injury or requests for treatment, "this appears to be an acute injury that resolved." The examiner further notes that no scars or other identifying body marks are noted on the Veteran's April 1970 separation examination. The evidence in favor of the claim includes a post-service 1983 VA examination which notes "[i]n January 1969 injured in vehicle accident in Vietnam . . . [s]car in left flank from laceration." In addition to this record of a left flank scar 14 years after the in-service accident, the Veteran has reported that his current scar on his left side above his hip was incurred in the 1969 in-service accident. The Veteran is competent to report having observed a scar from 1969 to the present. Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 469-70 (1994) (holding that a lay witness is competent to testify to that which the witness has actually observed and is within the realm of his personal knowledge). The Board notes that there is also no medical evidence of record indicating that the Veteran's current left flank scar is related to an event other than the 1969 in-service accident. Upon review of the record, the Board finds the evidence to be in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's current left flank scar was incurred in service. Accordingly, after resolving all doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that service connection for a left flank scar is warranted. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. K. A. BANFIELD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Jesteadt, 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.