Fighter pilot Frank Fong won some of the Army Air Forces' highest honors for bravery and skill: two Distinguished Flying Crosses and eight Air Medals. who lost his vision in one eye as he battled Nazis during World War II, will finally receive his disability payments nearly 50 years later.
Fong first filed his claim in 1950. A Board of Veterans' Appeals judge ruled that Fong is entitled to disability payments for the blindness in his left eye through August 1997. The VA said it was sending Fong, 86, a check for about $67,000.
Fong, now a retired commercial artist, lives in Weston, Florida. (Source: AsianWeek, Oct. 14, 2005).