well of course there has to be a connection between your service and the disability claimed, whether they use the term nexus or not.
i have had several claims for disability compensation over the years, i have found the VA to be very helpful, very unhelpful, sometimes so compassionate it nearly brought tears to my eyes, sometimes intimidating, sometimes competent, sometimes incompetent.
like i've said before i think it just depends, i do not hold to the theory that the va is out to screw with every veteran, though i do believe that they have screwed a lot of veterans, sometimes on purpose, sometimes due to incompetence, sometimes with malice.
it just depends