Doctor, combat vet nominated to run VA

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Retired U.S. Army officer Lt. Gen. James Peake, an Army doctor and combat veteran, is President George Bush's nominee to lead the Veterans Affairs Department.

Bush's nomination Tuesday of Peake comes after former VA chief Jim Nicholson resigned Oct. 1 as controversy swirled around the department.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Peake would be first physician and first general to serve as secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, Bush said.

"Caring for our military veterans is a solemn responsibility of the federal government," Bush said as he announced his selection of Peake, whom he described as "a strong leader for this department."

Peake, a former Army surgeon general, who also served in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam, has a "view from both sides of the hospital bed," Bush said.

The 1966 West Point graduate earned a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts during the Vietnam conflict.

It while Peake was recuperating from his second injury that he learned he was accepted to medical school, Bush said. After graduating from Cornell University's medical school, Peake "devoted his career as an army doctor to improving medical care of service men and women," Bush said.