Gordon H . Mansfield Gordon Hall Mansfield ( September 15 , 1941 - January 29 , 2013 ) was an American military veteran who was Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs between 2004 and 2008 . Political career . Mansfield was nominated to serve as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs by President George W . Bush on November 3 , 2003 , and confirmed by the United States Senate on January 22 , 2004 . He previously served as VA Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs since August 1 , 2001 . From October 1 , 2007 until December 20 , 2007 he was the Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs after Jim Nicholson resigned as Secretary . He served as Acting Secretary until President Bush ' s nominee , Retired U . S . Army Surgeon General James Peake was sworn in on December 20 , 2007 . He term as Deputy Secretary ended in January 2009 . Prior to his appointment , Mansfield served as the legislative advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and was responsible for VA ’ s Congressional relations and for representing VA programs , policies , investigations and legislative agenda to Congress . Prior to joining VA , Mansfield served as executive director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America ( PVA ) since April 1993 . In that position , he oversaw daily operation of PVA ’ s national office in Washington , D . C . Mansfield held a number of positions at PVA from 1981 to 1989 , and served as the organization ’ s first associate executive director of Government Relations . Mansfield served as Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1993 under President George H . W . Bush ’ s Administration . Prior to 1981 , he practiced law in Ocala , Florida . Education . Mansfield received his undergraduate degree from Villanova University . While recovering from wounds sustained in Vietnam , he began studying for his law degree at American University , and eventually graduated from the University of Miami . Military service . Following his 1964 enlistment in the Army , Mansfield served two tours of duty in Vietnam . While serving as company commander with the 101st Airborne Division during his second tour , he was wounded during the Tet Offensive on February 4 , 1968 , when an enemy soldier feigning death shot him . Mansfield sustained a spinal cord injury , but remained with his soldiers and made sure that the wounded were evacuated before he was medevac ed to a Navy Hospital , and was later sent to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda , Maryland to recover . Mansfield was discharged in September 1968 . Awards . For his actions while his unit was under fire , he was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross . He was medically retired by the U . S . Army at the grade of Captain . His other combat decorations include the Bronze Star , two Purple Heart s , the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Presidential Unit Citation . Mansfield is a recipient of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and the Villanova University Alumni Human Relations Medal . He was inducted into the 2006 National Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame , and into the U . S . Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 1997 . In February 2009 Mansfield joined the Board of Directors of the Disabled Veterans ’ LIFE Memorial Foundation . In October 2010 , Mansfield was honored by the Veteran ’ s Group Soldier On at the official opening of the Gordon H . Mansfield Veterans Community in Pittsfield , Massachusetts , in honor of his efforts for veterans . In attendance were dignitaries such as Massachusetts Congressman John Olver , CEO of Soldier On Jack Downing and Director of Homeless Programs for the Veterans Administration Peter Dougherty , who , with Mansfield ’ s wife Linda , unveiled a large bronze bas relief of Mansfield by sculptor Andrew DeVries that marks the entrance to the community .