jamesbond

:( I suppose you are trying to get the widow her DIC benefits. You should find out first whether the deceased veteran had any pending claims at the time of his death. Also, I would like to suggest you write the VA regional office to provide you copies of the veterans entire VA file to include any service records in their possesion. These service records may show that when the veteran was in service he was treated for a heart condition. Those records are not at NPRC. Records of retired veterans or deceased veteran are stored at a different facility or location. National Archives may have some of these records. Get ahold of the veteran's entire service personnel file! You can go to the Veterans Affairs web cite and pull up Part IV of the M21-1. When you pull this up you will find a section entitled procuring service records. This will give you all the information you need to get these records! If VA has any service records showing treatment for the heart condition you would then need to link the death of the veteran (the heart condition) to some disease or injury in service. Another suggestion is to get ahold of the veteran's prescriptions for his heart condition. You should be able to get these from the facility or Pharmacy who filed the veteran's medication. Good luck!

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