Mitscher v. West

HOLDAWAY, Judge:

The appellant, Shirley L. Mitscher, widow of veteran Jan E. Mitscher, appeals the January 1998 decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA or Board) which determined that she was not entitled to an effective date earlier than October 14, *1251993, for an award of dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC). The award of DIC was based on service connection of the veteran’s death caused by multiple myeloma. The appellant filed an initial brief and a reply brief arguing that the appellant had filed a claim in 1986 for service connection of her husband’s cause of death due to…