VA was supposed to pay Fong, a highly decorated fighter pilot partially blinded during combat, $66,806 in October -- money he's been waiting for since 1950.

But as of Veterans Day, VA had sent him just $1,414.25.

'When I got that almost a week ago, I almost hit the ceiling. I thought, `Is this all I'm getting?' " said Fong, 86, a retired commercial artist who lives in Weston. "Someone screwed up."

VA issued a statement Tuesday saying Fong should receive the rest of his money before the end of the month. A check for $52,000 is expected to be mailed from Austin, Texas, on Thursday. Another check for about $13,000 -- which VA had wrongly withheld as attorneys' fees -- is now expected to be mailed to Fong on Nov. 21, VA said.

"Action to pay Mr. Fong was taken in early October but because of the complexity, the case required the review of numerous staff to ensure the payment issued was accurate," the statement said. The complexity of Fong's case and the protracted period of time covered by the retroactive payments "inhibited our ability to pay within the 30 days" and required it to be sent in more than one disbursement, the VA said.

PILOT'S EYE INJURY

It's the latest delay in Fong's half-century battle to get VA compensation for the blindness in his left eye, caused when glass shards gouged his retina in a 1944 crash of his P-47 Thunderbolt. Despite serious injuries, Fong continued to fly throughout the war, including two missions on D-Day, according to military records.

Fong, who overcame discrimination as a Chinese American to serve as a pilot, won some of the Army Air Corps' highest honors for bravery and skill: two Distinguished Flying Crosses and eight Air Medals.

In 1950, VA denied Fong's first disability claim for the eye injury when the VA's doctor failed to diagnose the scar on his retina. It took until 1998 for VA to concede that the plane crash had caused Fong's blindness. VA began compensating him then, but made the payments retroactive only to 1997.

Fong's case was featured in a Knight Ridder investigation in March of how VA wrongly denies and shortchanges veterans who seek compensation for their disabilities.

DUE 47 YEARS' SUM

A Board of Veterans Appeals judge ruled Sept. 20 that Fong was entitled to disability payments for his blindness for the period July 1950 to August 1997 -- the 47 years VA had wrongly denied his claim.

VA officials, in a Sept. 27 Knight Ridder article, said Fong's check would be expedited because of his age and that he would have the money within 30 days.

But that hasn't happened.

Sharon Mullane, Fong's friend and an attorney who has handled his case for free for the past three years, said she was stunned by what appeared to be massive confusion within VA about how much Fong was owed, and when -- or how -- he'd get his money.

"They're telling all kinds of stories: The computer doesn't go back to 1951. The check has to come from out West. Then they said the money would be wired to Mr. Fong. Then no, it's not being wired," Mullane said.

Then $1,414 was wired last week into Fong's bank account, Mullane said, and VA officials said a paper check for $52,028 would be on the way by Thursday.

But that doesn't add up to $66,806, and Mullane wanted to know why Fong was being shortchanged. So she called VA again.

'ATTORNEY'S FEES'

VA's explanation, she said: About $13,000 had been withheld as a check for attorneys' fees.

"But I'm the attorney and I'm not charging any fees," Mullane said.

VA sent the attorneys' fees check to itself, she said. VA then told Mullane it would take another 60 days to reissue that check to Fong, but she said VA officials now appear to be relenting on that.

"When this thing is over, I hope people understand we have a torture chamber here for veterans and it's called VA," Mullane said. "I'm just so appalled at the way they're treated."

Knight Ridder's investigation found that more than 13,700 veterans died in the past decade while their cases were in the VA appeals process -- some while waiting for their checks to be mailed. Under VA rules, if a veteran wins his or her case but dies before cashing the check, the government generally keeps the money.

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