BVA Case 07-1699: Ptsd

Melo ,appeals a May 24,2007,Board of Veterans'Appeals (Board)decision in which the Board denied her claims for (1) entitlement to service connection for the cause of her husband's death;(2)entitlement to death pension benefits; (3)entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ischemic heart disease,eczema,and pneumonia,for purposes of accrued benefits;(4)a disability rating in excess of 30%for a gunshot wound (GSW) of the right arm,for purposes of accrued benefits;(5)special monthly compensation (SMC)based on the need for aid and attendance or being housebound, for purposes of accrued benefits;and (6)a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU)due to a service-connected disability,for purposes of accrued benefits.

ANALYSIS In her informal brief,the appellant asserts that the Board erred when it denied her claims for entitlement to service connection for cause of death,non-service-connected death pension benefits, accrued benefits,SMC,and TDIU.

She has appealed all of the issues that the Board denied .

For direct service connection to be awarded,there must be (1)medical evidence of a current disability;(2)medical evidence,or in certain circumstances, lay evidence,of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury;and (3)medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disease or injury.

The Board's determination of whether a veteran's cause of death is service connected is a finding of fact reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard of review set forth in 38 U.

A factual finding 'is clearly erroneous 4 when although there is evidence to support it,the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.

The Board noted that the veteran was service connected for a GSW of the right arm at the time of his death.

The appellant does not direct the Court to any evidence in the record that indicates there is any nexus between either the veteran's service and the conditions that caused his death,or the veteran's service-connected GSW and the conditions that caused his death.