Citation Nr: 21040007 Decision Date: 07/02/21 Archive Date: 07/02/21 DOCKET NO. 17-44 252 DATE: July 2, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a corneal scar of the left eye is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran has a current disability of a corneal scar of the left eye. 2. The Veteran was hit in the left eye by a small metallic object during service. 3. The current corneal scar is the result of the small metallic object entering the left eye during service. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for service connection for a corneal scar of the left eye have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 1154, 5103, 5013A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served in the Navy from October 1954 to October 1956, and the Air Force from June 1958 to June 1962, during the Korean Conflict Era and Peacetime. Service Connection for Corneal Scar of the Left Eye Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). As a general matter, service connection for a disability requires evidence of: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) the existence of the disease or injury in service, and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. The Veteran contends that, in early 1955, while working as a mess cook, a mechanical potato peeler malfunctioned, sending a small metal piece into his left eye. He contends that the current corneal scar is a consequence of the metal piece entering and remaining to this day in the left eye. The evidence shows a current disability of a corneal scar of the left eye. VA treatment records show that in June 2013 the Veteran was diagnosed with a corneal scar due to a small metal object in the left eye. The treatment record notes that the scar is longstanding. The evidence shows a left eye injury due to flying metal debris during service. On the service separation examination from the first period of active duty, the examiner noted a 0.5" scar of the left eye. See October 1956 Service Treatment Records. The Veteran has repeatedly claimed that during service a small piece of metal flew into his eye. The Veteran has consistently made this claim, beginning in treatment records in 2014. After weighing the evidence, lay and medical, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise on the question of whether the current corneal scar is directly connected to the injury in service. A private medical examiner in May 2015 diagnosed a corneal scar of the left eye, noting a metallic corneal foreign body in the left eye sustained during service. There are no contrary medical opinions in the record. Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that the criteria for direct service connection for corneal scar of the left eye have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Charles Plambeck 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.