Citation Nr: 21026645 Decision Date: 05/03/21 Archive Date: 05/03/21 DOCKET NO. 15-38 097 DATE: May 3, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's right knee disability is etiologically related to an in-service injury. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a right knee disability have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107 (2018); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (2020). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active Naval service from January 1978 to January 1981. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2013 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In February 2021, the Veteran testified at hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ). A transcript of that proceeding has been associated with the Veteran's claims file. Service Connection Right Knee Disability The Veteran has contended that his right knee disability is related to his active duty service. Specifically, the Veteran reported that he injured his right knee on two separate occasions during service while stationed aboard the U.S.S. Midway, and traversing the narrow ladders used to navigate between decks of the ship. Initially, the Board notes that the evidence establishes that the Veteran has a current disability of the right knee, diagnosed as degenerative joint disease and previously treated as a right knee cyst with a medial meniscectomy. See 2011-2012, Private Treatment Records; 2015, VA Treatment Records. In his February 2021 hearing before the Board, the Veteran testified that the first injury to his right knee occurred while aboard the U.S.S. Midway while the ship was in port. He fell approximately 12 feet, temporarily losing consciousness and was then treated for head trauma as a result. After being carried by fellow service-members to the sick bay, he spent a night under observation. The second incident occurred while out at sea in route to Iran. The Veteran fell approximately 14 to 15 feet. Although he reported to the sick bay at the command of his supervisor, he was only briefly treated for the fall so that he could return to his post. Service treatment records corroborate the Veteran's assertion of experiencing the first fall and being treated overnight for observation with a final assessment that he did not experience a concussion or show signs of a neurological injury. Those treatment reports, however, depict treatment for the Veteran's head trauma without mention of injury to the knee. Service treatment records are silent for notations of the Veteran's reported second fall while out at sea. A written statement was submitted on the Veteran's behalf by a fellow service-member who corroborates the account of the first incident occurring while in port, recalling that the Veteran sustained injury to his head and knee after his fall. The Board finds that the assertions in this statement are credible as the fellow service-member provides factual details which are corroborated by the Veteran's service personnel records. The Veteran also provided candid and credible testimony that ever since service, he has experienced pain and ongoing trouble with his right knee which has gradually gotten worse. He testified that he has walked with a limp ever since his separation from service because of his right knee condition and experiences pain at all times. See Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d at 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2007); see also Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2007). During the February 2021 hearing, the Veteran's spouse provided testimony that upon meeting the Veteran just a few years after his active service, she noticed that he walked with a limp from his right knee. She further testified that she has observed the condition gradually worsen throughout the years. Given the foregoing, and resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran injured his knee in the first documented in-service fall and the reported second in-service fall. The Board recognizes that the Veteran has consistently reported these incidents throughout the adjudication of his claim and has also submitted private treatment records which support that the present disability stems from a historical injury. A private medical record from December 2011 confirms the findings of a large right knee cyst and elaborates that such injury is possibly associated to previous trauma. Accordingly, the Board finds that the evidence for and against the claim is at least in equipoise. Therefore, reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of the Veteran and entitlement to service connection for a back disability is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b) (2018); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). Kristin Haddock Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board E. Sutherell, 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.