HOUSTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Former President George H.W. Bush said Wednesday it was a "magical moment" when he learned deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had been captured.
Bush commented during a visit with staff and patients at the Houston VA Medical Center to learn about the hospital's vascular surgery program, the Houston Chronicle reported.
"It was one magical moment," he told reporters.
Bush said he was proud of his son, President George W. Bush, and called the capture of Saddam "a wonderful blessing for our country" during the holidays.
Dr. Michael DeBakey, a pioneering Houston heart surgeon, asked the former president to visit the hospital and extend Christmas greetings to patients who had undergone surgery.
Tillman Guillory, 74, and his wife Loretta, of Kinder, La., told the Chronicle they were thrilled to meet the elder Bush.
"We're Bush people," he said.
