What is a class act?

That could be the correct response to a “Jeopardy!” clue about a military physician stationed in San Antonio who was a recent winner on the popular game show.

Capt. Brendan Graham, whose three-show stint ended Monday with winnings of $46,602, is keeping only half the money.

The San Antonio Military Medical Center pathology specialist is donating the rest to two military charities “very dear” to the hearts of him and his wife, Lindsey, also an Army physician at SAMMC.

On the show Monday, Graham spoke glowingly of both charities: the Wounded Warrior Project, which aids soldiers “wounded in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan when they come back to the states,” and Fisher House, “a project that pays for housing for families and loved ones of wounded soldiers so they can be close to their soldiers in their recuperation and their recovery.”

In an interview Wednesday, Graham said he was happy to discover “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek also is a passionate supporter of the military and the USO.

“It made me like him all the more,” he said.

The 31-year-old doctor auditioned for “Jeopardy” while stationed in Washington, D.C., last summer before he and his wife relocated to San Antonio.

“I always had varied interests and read a lot,” he said, “so I figured I’d go in with what I knew and do the best that I could.”

When he got the call from “Jeopardy,” he was asked to wear his uniform, which he was happy to do.

“I’m always very proud to appear in uniform,” he said.

Graham speaks quickly, a trait that might have worked to his advantage on the show.

“That probably did help me,” he said. “I didn’t have time to second-guess answers in my head.”

He aced the first two shows, including the crucial final “Jeopardy!” categories. Both dealt with topics familiar to him: a favorite author, O. Henry; and “health matters.”

The answer for that one, he said, was “a phrase that was copyrighted by 7-Eleven in the 1990s that has to do with quick consumption of something that was cold.”

“I drank a lot of Slurpees when I was younger,” he said, so the winning question was a no-brainer for him: “What is ‘brain freeze’?”

Does he have any personal plans for his game show winnings?

“My wife wants to buy a rocking chair,” he said, explaining that they have one son, 2, and are expecting a second in March.

She wants a chair wide enough, he said, “so both our children can sit in the rocking chair with her while she reads to them.”

By Jeanne Jakle

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