Shark, I'm not sure but I'm sure, Berta, our resident "expert," will chime in, soon. My belief is that you cannot be awarded prior to the date you actually filed your claim, unless you filed a claim for disability, for agent orange related disabilities. If you did that, your award could go back to the date of that claim. You should also note that by the time we are diagnosed, by the VA, we've had the symptoms for a yr or two.
pr