New York Native Named Acting VA Under Secretary

WASHINGTON – President Bush has named Richard A. Wannemacher Jr. as Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

As Acting Under Secretary, Wannemacher will direct the operation and maintenance of 120 VA national cemeteries and other memorial-related programs for veterans and eligible family members.  

Born, raised and educated in Buffalo, N.Y., Wannemacher has served as Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs since June 2003.  From January 2002 until June 2003, he was the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary.  

Wannemacher also served as VA’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs from June 2001 until January 2002.

Before coming to VA, Wannemacher served in numerous positions with the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), a nonprofit organization of more than one million disabled veterans.  Wannemacher spent 15 years with DAV, beginning in 1978 as a national service officer assigned to the Buffalo and Albany, N.Y., offices. 

A disabled veteran, Wannemacher enlisted in the Navy in 1967 and served in Vietnam with the Navy’s River Division 593.  Following his military service, he earned an associate degree in business administration from Erie Community College and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Buffalo State College.  He pursued graduate studies in business at Canisius College in Buffalo.  

In addition to overseeing national cemeteries, VA also provides headstones and markers for veterans’ graves, administers a grants program to help states set up veterans cemeteries, and issues Presidential Memorial Certificates to the families of honorably discharged deceased veterans. 

Information on VA burial benefits is available from national cemetery offices and VA regional offices at 1-800-827-1000 or on VA Web sites at http://www.va.gov or http://www.cem.va.gov. 

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