Citation Nr: 21074740 Decision Date: 12/16/21 Archive Date: 12/16/21 DOCKET NO. 16-57 183 DATE: December 16, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran's death certificate reflects he died in August 2014 of cardiopulmonary arrest, arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a disability for which he was not service connected. 2. The preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran's arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease was incurred in or related to active service, manifested within a year of leaving active service, or otherwise related to herbicide exposure during service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1310, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.5, 3.303, 3.312. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active military service from February 1966 to February 1969. He died in August 2014. The appellant is the Veteran's surviving spouse. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2015 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2019, the appellant testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned. At the hearing, the appellant waived initial consideration by the RO of any additional evidence received. This matter was previously before the Board in January 2020 and remanded to the RO to conduct an additional search to attempt to verify whether the Veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during service. The Board finds the RO has substantially complied with the remand directive. To prevail on the issue of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, the evidence must show that a disability incurred or aggravated by service caused or contributed substantially or materially to cause the Veteran's death. 38 U.S.C. § 1310; 38 C.F.R. § 3.312. The service-connected disability will be considered as the principal (primary) cause of death when such disability, singly or jointly with some other condition, was the immediate or underlying cause of death or was etiologically related thereto. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). A contributory cause of death is inherently one not related to the principal cause. In determining whether a service-connected disability contributed to death, it must be shown that it contributed substantially or materially; that it combined to cause death; that it aided or lent assistance to the production of death. It is not sufficient to show that it casually shared in producing death, but rather it must be shown that there was a causal connection. 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(c). The appellant seeks to establish service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. She asserts that the Veteran served in Vietnam and was exposed to herbicide agents, and that his death was caused by such exposure. See October 2019 Board Hearing Transcript. The cause of the Veteran's death was cardiopulmonary arrest, arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which is an ischemic heart disease, and subject to presumptive service connection for Veterans exposed to herbicide agents during service. Regarding service in Vietnam, the response from the National Personnel Records Center reveals there is no evidence in the Veteran's file to substantiate any service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board has found that information is accurate. The appellant has submitted 2 pages from the Veteran's military personnel records which she proffers as evidence that the Veteran served in Vietnam, but she has in fact misinterpreted the information in the record. For example, the appellant submitted a copy of the Department of the Army special orders extract that provides detailed information of the Veteran's orders for reporting to Thailand ("CO USASTRATCOM LL Bn (Thai) APO 96233"). That document lists, among other things, the location of the major command/agency ("Maj comd/agcy: 1st Sig Bde (USASTRATCOM) APO 96307"). The appellant has interpreted the entry describing the location of the major command (APO [Air Force Post Office] 96307, which was located in Tan Son Nhut Air Base, in the Republic of Vietnam), as the location where the Veteran was ordered to go. That is a misinterpretation of the record. The Veteran did not have orders to go to APO 96307 as the appellant believes, but his orders were for him to go to Thailand. This is consistent with the Veteran's military personnel records and research conducted by the Joint Service Records Research Center (JSRRC) confirming the Veteran did not serve in Vietnam. Moreover, in a December 2018 letter to the White House, the appellant noted that the Veteran's DD-214 shows he was a Vietnam Veteran, as he received a Vietnam Service Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal. These medals, however, are not conclusive evidence of service in Vietnam, as the receipt of such medals alone is not sufficient evidence of service in Vietnam, and therefore exposure to herbicide agents. Those medals were awarded to soldiers who provided support for the Vietnam War but may not have served in Vietnam. Also, the medals could have been given for service in Southeast Asia in support of actions in Vietnam, yet outside Vietnam. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds the preponderance of the evidence indicates the Veteran did not have service in Vietnam. The Veteran's service records show he served in Don Muang, Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB), Thailand. VA will concede herbicide exposure for a Veteran who was stationed at one of the RTAFBs if they served as a security policeman, security patrol dog handler, member of the security police squadron, or otherwise near the air base perimeter as shown by evidence of daily work duties, performance evaluation reports, or other credible evidence. The Veteran's DD Form 214 shows his military occupational specialty was microwave radio repairman, and that he had one year of foreign service with the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC (Thailand)) from October 1966 to October 1967. Regarding whether the Veteran's duties required him to be near the air base perimeter and therefore exposed to herbicide agents, his personnel records show that he was assigned to HHD 29th Signal Company (USASTRATCOM) Pacific as a microwave radio repairman from October 1966. He served as a microwave radar repairment assigned to USASTRATCOM LL Bn (Thai) (CC-7460-OF) Pacific with duty station Company C (Sattahip) Sarachi from August 1967. In various statements that are of record, the Veteran related that he serviced microwave communication systems inside, on, and outside the perimeter of Sattahip. He also refers to temporary duty as a vehicle driver at Korat Air Base and an additional duty as the driver for the commander of USASTRATCOM LL Bn. He discussed that he had been exposed to herbicides on the perimeter of the motor pool at Korat. The Veteran's personnel data of record does not contain any information about his temporary or additional duties. JSRRC conducted research in March 2012, prior to the Veteran's death, and was unable to document or verify that the Veteran was exposed to Agent Orange or other tactical herbicides while performing his duties such as perimeter guard and microwave repairman. Pursuant to the January 2020 Board remand, further research on the matter of whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicides while stationed in Thailand was conducted. No additional information was uncovered to show the Veteran's duties placed him on or near the perimeters of the RTAFB in Don Muang. In sum, the Board has considered the entire record, but found insufficient evidence to concede herbicide exposure by virtue of his service in Thailand. As exposure is not conceded, presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure is denied. Having concluded that the Veteran was not exposed to herbicides during service and service connection on a presumptive basis is not for application, the Board is mindful that this does not affect the appellant's right to seek service connection on a direct basis. See Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1041-42 (Fed. Cir. 1994). In this case, the cause of the Veteran's death is recorded on the death certificate as cardiopulmonary arrest, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. There were no other significant conditions contributing to death but not resulting in the underlying cause of death listed on the death certificate. The Veteran was not service connected for any disability at any point during his life. He had filed claims for service connection for coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease that were denied by the RO in April 2012. The Veteran requested reconsideration of the denial of those claims but did not perfect an appeal of the matters. The Veteran's service treatment records are negative for any complaints, diagnosis, or treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease while the Veteran was in service, nor was atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease present to a degree of 10 percent within one year of the Veteran's discharge from active duty. The evidence of record includes treatment records from a private physician, which shows the Veteran was diagnosed with coronary atherosclerosis of native vessel and hypertension in May 2008. In a July 2008 private treatment report, it was noted the Veteran had a remote history of cardiac disease with myocardial infarctions in the 1970s as well as more recent peripheral vascular disease. The diagnosis of coronary atherosclerosis was rendered nearly four decades after the Veteran's separation from active duty service, a fact that tends not to support a conclusion that atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease manifested during service. There is no additional information in the record regarding the Veteran's remote history of cardiac disease with myocardial infarctions in the 1970s. It appears to have been acute and transitory, as heart disease was not diagnosed for several decades later. While the Board acknowledges the Veteran's passing from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the Board is without a basis to find that this disease qualifies for service connection, given an in-service event or the nexus element has not been established. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds that entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death cannot be granted in this case. As noted above, the evidence indicates that the Veteran's atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease did not manifest in service or within one year of separation from service, or fall within the presumptive provisions of service connection. Further, there is no competent medical evidence of an etiological link between the Veteran's service and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease that brought about his death. The appellant's own opinion does not constitute competent evidence, absent a showing of medical training or credentials. Absent such evidence, there is no basis for a medical opinion regarding the cause of death. In the absence of any competent medical evidence that the Veteran's death from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is in any way related to an in-service injury or disease, including exposure to herbicide agents, the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. The benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine is therefore not for application, and the claim must be denied. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. Accordingly, while the Board is deeply sympathetic to the appellant and takes this opportunity to express its condolences for the Veteran's passing, the Board must deny the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Young, 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.