Brunner said he receives monthly disability checks of $901 because of serious injuries he suffered in 1955 when he was an Army specialist building airstrips on a Texas Air Force base.

A cable on a piece of heavy equipment snapped and struck him, landing him in the hospital for a month with serious facial injuries and fractured bones all over his body.

“It broke me up pretty bad,” Brunner said. “For the first few days in the hospital they told me they didn’t know if I was going to live or die.”

Brunner said when he left the Army in 1956, he was told he couldn’t receive any compensation for his injuries, which still restrict his ability to perform certain tasks and movement. About seven years ago, he ran across information about veterans benefits and successfully applied.

The Milwaukee Regional Benefit Office sent the letter. Craig Larson, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs regional office in Chicago, said he didn’t know how often erroneous letters have been sent out.

“I do not have an exact number, but it occurs infrequently due to human error, such as incorrect data entry,” Larson said. “However, when it does happen, VA remedies the error as soon as possible.”