Gordon H. Mansfield

Gordon H. Mansfield
5th United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
In office January 22, 2004 – January 20, 2009
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Leo Mackay, Jr.
Succeeded by	W. Scott Gould
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Villanova University American University University of Miami
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1964–1968
Rank	Captain
Unit	101st Airborne Division
Battles/wars	Vietnam War
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Bronze Star Purple Heart (2) Combat Infantryman Badge

Gordon H. Mansfield is a former Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

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.^[1] He term as Deputy Secretary ended in January 2009.^[2]

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.^[3]

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 medevaced 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.^[3]

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 Hearts, 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,^[3] 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.^[2]

See also

United States Army portal

References

1. ^ UPI. Peake sworn in as VA secretary, Dec 20, 2007. Accessed 21 Dec 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Gordon Mansfield Elected to the Board of the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation" (Press release). PRLog. 2009-02-04. http://www.prlog.org/10177588-gordon-mansfield-elected-to-the-board-of-the-disabled-veterans-life-memorial-foundation.html. Retrieved 2009-04-14. "Gordon H. Mansfield was elected to the Board of Directors of the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation. Mr. Mansfield served as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President George W. Bush from 2004 until January, 2009."  (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5g2MzaPdR)
3. ^ ^{a b c} "SCI Hall of Fame > 2006 HOF Inductees: Gordon Mansfield". 2006-08-12. http://spinalcord.org/news.php?dep=9&page=74&list=978. Retrieved 2007-10-02. 

• Official Biography

Government offices
Preceded by Jim Nicholson	United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs (acting) 2007	Succeeded by James Peake

Persondata
Name	Mansfield, Gordon
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