Citation Nr: 22012874 Decision Date: 03/07/22 Archive Date: 03/07/22 DOCKET NO. 17-56 212 DATE: March 7, 2022 REMANDED 1. Entitlement to service connection for Parkinson's disease is remanded. 2. Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for aid and attendance and/or housebound status is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from July 1967 to June 1987. The Veteran died in July 2021 and the substituted appellant is his surviving spouse. The Veteran and his wife testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) at a July 2019 Travel Board hearing and a transcript of the hearing has been associated with the claims file. These matters were previously denied by the Board in January 2020, after which the Veteran appealed the matters to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In December 2020, the Veteran and the Secretary of VA (parties) filed a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), which was granted by the Court that same month. As discussed further below, the Board finds that remand is warranted to address issues identified within the December 2020 JMR. 1. Entitlement to service connection for Parkinson's disease is remanded. The Veteran has previously asserted that he was exposed to Agent Orange during active service in Vietnam while serving aboard the USS America from April 1968 to approximately December 1968. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) has previously undertaken efforts to determine whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents aboard the USS America as it operated in Southeast Asia from April 1968 to October 1968 in support of military operations in Vietnam. An April 2016 VA Memorandum formally found that there was insufficient information for the U.S. Army and Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) to verify herbicide exposure in Vietnam aboard the USS America. This finding was based upon a review of the evidence of record, including service personnel records, as well as a review of VA's list of Navy and Coast Guard Ships associated with service in Vietnam and exposure to herbicide agents, which did not document that the USS America(CVA-66) docked on the shores or piers of Vietnam, operated temporarily on the inland waterways of Vietnam, or operated on close coastal waters for extended periods, with evidence that crew members went ashore, or smaller vessels from the ship went ashore regularly with supplies or personnel. Additionally, during the July 2019 Board hearing, the Veteran's representative reiterated the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for Parkinson's disease based upon presumptive exposure to herbicide agents, including under the recent Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019. He stated that the Veteran told him that he was close enough to the Vietnam shore while onboard the USS America to see lights on the beach, which he asserted would have put the Veteran within 12 miles based on his observation. Within the December 2020 JMR, the parties noted that the Board's January 2020 rationale that there was no evidence that the USS America was "within 12 miles of the Vietnam shore while the Veteran served onboard" was inadequate, as the Board erred by applying the wrong standard under the law to determine if the Veteran warranted presumptive service connection for exposure to herbicide agents in service. The Board was required to determine if the Veteran served within 12 nautical miles of a line drawn between geographic points as delineated in the law, not merely measured from the shoreline. See Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act. 116 P.L. 23, 133 Stat. 966 (2019) (defining "offshore service" subject to presumptive service connection). Significantly, to date, the record does not indicate that the AOJ has initiated or completed development to determine whether the Veteran served within the 12 nautical mile demarcation line via the Blue Water Navy Ship Locator Dashboard and related tools. As such, this development should be completed upon remand and associated with the claims file. 2. Entitlement to SMC based on the need for aid and attendance and/or housebound status is remanded. The parties further agreed in the December 2020 Joint Motion that the appellant's claim for SMC is inextricably intertwined with the claim for service connection for Parkinson's disease. See Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180, 183 (1991). As such, remand of the claim for SMC is also warranted. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Perform any necessary development, including via the Blue Water Navy Ship Locator Dashboard and related tools, to determine whether the Veteran's naval service aboard the USS America from April 1968 to October 1968 included any presence within the territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam or any similar area identified in the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 (12 nautical miles seaward of a line commencing on the southwestern demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia and intersecting at points specified in the Act). After the above, complete a formal finding addressing whether the available information and evidence demonstrate that the Veteran served in the territorial sea of the Republic of Vietnam or any similar area identified in the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, including while stationed aboard the USS America. A. P. SIMPSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Chad Johnson, 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.