The macro below implements the procedure for fixing messed up formatting. You can copy this text into a Word 97 macro.
Sub Fix_formatting() ' ' Fix_formatting Macro ' Macro recorded 12/01/00 by W. S. ' Application.Move Left:=342, Top:=7 Selection.Find.ClearFormatting Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting With Selection.Find .Text = "^p " .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "^p " .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "^p " .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = " ^p" .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = " ^p" .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = " ^p" .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "^p>>>" .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "^p>>" .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "^p>" .Replacement.Text = "^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "^p^p" .Replacement.Text = "~!@#$" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "^p" .Replacement.Text = " " .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll With Selection.Find .Text = "~!@#$" .Replacement.Text = "^p^p" .Forward = True .Wrap = wdFindContinue .Format = False .MatchCase = False .MatchWholeWord = False .MatchWildcards = False .MatchSoundsLike = False .MatchAllWordForms = False End With Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll End Sub