Citation Nr: 21005496 Decision Date: 02/01/21 Archive Date: 02/01/21 DOCKET NO. 18-54 509 DATE: February 1, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran had active duty service in the Republic of Vietnam between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975. 2. The Veteran’s ischemic heart disease is related to exposure to an herbicide agent. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for ischemic heart disease are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served from June 1964 to April 1968. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified at a Board virtual hearing in September 2020 before the undersigned, and a copy of the hearing transcript has been obtained and associated with the record. The Veteran seeks service connection for ischemic heart disease. The Veteran has previously been diagnosed with an ischemic heart disease. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The Veteran contends that he was exposed to herbicide agents in Vietnam. There is a presumption of exposure to herbicide agents for all veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam for a period beginning on January 9, 1962 and ending on May 7, 1975. 38 U.S.C. § 1116(f); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii). The Veteran contends that he served in Vietnam in April 1967. Specifically, the Veteran testified that he served at the Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, from April 1967 to April 1968. To get to Thailand, in April 1967 he flew from San Francisco, California, on a commercial airliner to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, Vietnam, where he set foot on the ground in Vietnam to transfer planes to a C-130, which then flew him to Nakhon Phanom. The Veteran’s testimony is consistent with his documented service at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base from April 1967 to April 1968, as well as documented orders from March 1967 transferring him from McChord Air Force Base, Washington to Hamilton Air Force Base, California, near San Francisco, immediately preceding his service in Thailand. There is no evidence contradicting the Veteran’s contentions. Resolving the benefit of the doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that the Veteran has had qualifying service in the Republic of Vietnam. Therefore, the Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent. See 38 U.S.C. § 116(f); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a). For veterans who have been exposed to herbicide agents, certain diseases are also acknowledged to be presumptively related to such exposure. 38 U.S.C. § 1116 (a)(2); 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (e). Ischemic heart disease is an enumerated disability under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e), and therefore a causal relationship between herbicide exposure and the Veteran’s ischemic heart disease may also be presumed. Therefore, having established in-service exposure to an herbicide agent, and a relationship between herbicide agent exposure and the Veteran’s ischemic heart disease, the Veteran is entitled to service connection for ischemic heart disease. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. J. B. FREEMAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Michael D. Wagner, 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.