For 34 years, Evergreen veteran Michael Findley has been fighting for fair compensation for his time in the United States Air Force.

On the tail of allegations of corruption and criminal behavior in the Phoenix division of the Veterans Administration, Findley is looking to get a federal investigation for Montana veterans he feels have languished on the waiting list for treatment and proper adjudication — especially his own case.

“I’m using all means that are legal and nonviolent to address this issue,” he said. “I’ve been fighting the VA for 34 years to get my claim for disability adjudicated properly.”

Findley, who was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1980, suffers from arteriovenous fistula in his right hand. He has run Billy Bob’s BBQ in Evergreen for nearly 20 years.

His congenital condition means that veins and arteries, which typically run separately, short together to create an inoperable mass in his hand.

“It remains inactive until activated by trauma,” Findley said. “I told the Air Force my surgical history when I joined. They shouldn’t have let me in.”

The mass was activated by applying torque to wrenches as a mechanic in the service. After three years, considerable, sharp pain was common for Findley.

According to the Veterans Affairs rating schedule, this could give Findley either 40 or 20 percent disability, depending on symptoms. The VA claims 20 percent and has been paying that amount since the early 1990s, when it claims the veteran won his appeal. Findley claims the higher amount, and provides ample documentation he says proves it.

“The Air Force said there was no evidence,” he said. “But when I went to Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center, they said it was impossible to tell it was not work-related.”

Although he was discharged in 1980, he did not file for disability until 1982. He claims the first error made in his case was in 1983 and believes subsequent errors were caused by what Findley calls “pencil-whipping,” or not taking time to look carefully at each case.

Less than two weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki resigned in the wake of VA allegations disproportionately affecting states in the Rocky Mountain region, making Findley’s case not at all unusual.

In Findley’s crusade for fair disability payment and back disability pay he claims he was shorted, he has sent his detailed case documents (medical records from the early 1980s, signed letters from brigadier generals and the secretary of the U.S. Air Force, etc.) to many elected representatives, including Sen. Ryan Zinke, R-Whitefish. He claims he has no forthcoming adjudication from the VA.

As one of several states with significant Veterans Administration delays, Montana’s Helena office has presented Findley with delays, he alleges. But that is nothing compared to the outright incompetence and what he describes as criminal behavior in Colorado, California and Arizona.

His thorough documentation of his journey through the VA and his determination to find justice are signs of a man who refuses to be pushed around anymore.

“For 13 years they made their bed that there was no evidence I was due disability,” Findley said. “Now they are citing it as “new and material evidence” instead of an outright error. They picked the wrong vet to mess with. I’m not going away.”

The Montana Veterans Administration declined to comment for this story.