VA Advisory Committee on Cemeteries Welcomes New Member

The Department of Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Cemeteries and Memorials welcomed new member Alfred P. Galvan to its semi-annual meeting in Washington, D.C., June 8 and 9.



Said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo D. West Jr., "I look forward to hearing from Mr. Galvan and other committee members as we work to provide the quality service our Nation’s veterans deserve."



The Congressionally-mandated committee serves to advise the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on issues involving the operations of the National Cemetery Administration (NCA), its State Cemetery Grants, headstone and marker and Presidential Memorial Certificates programs, and related burial benefits. The Committee assists the Secretary in assuring NCA plans and programs are meeting the needs of the Nation’s veterans and their eligible family members.



An Army veteran during World War II, Galvan has been an active member of the American GI Forum for over 40 years. During that time, he has served as National Sergeant at Arms, as founder and board member of the Illinois National Veterans Outreach Program, and as a member of National Service Employment Redevelopment. He was the Illinois State Commander of the American GI Forum for 12 consecutive years until stepping down in 1995.



Galvan’s commitment to veterans’ concerns, and particularly to Hispanic veterans, is well known in Illinois and Washington, D.C. He worked for the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. He is the founding member of a number of prominent Hispanic organizations in Illinois and was appointed by former Governor Jim Edgar to the Illinois Veterans Advisory Council, the 1995 White House Conference on Aging as an advisor and the State of Illinois Council on Aging.



In 1994, Galvan was honored by the Midwest-Northeast Voters Registration Project with the William C. Velasquez Volunteer of the Year Award. He has been instrumental in securing and distributing toys at Christmas to Hispanic children through the Marines’ Toys-for-Tots program. Through his untiring efforts on behalf of veterans and the Hispanic community, he has received numerous awards for his voluntarism and public service and contribution to veterans’ issues in Illinois and the Nation.



Information on VA burial benefits is available from national cemetery offices and VA regional offices. For more information, call 1-800-827-1000 or visit the VA home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.va.gov or the National Cemetery Administration home page at http://www.cem.va.gov. Veterans with discharges other than dishonorable, their spouses and dependent children are eligible for burial in a VA national cemetery. VA also provides grave markers and headstones for the unmarked graves of eligible veterans even if they are not buried in a national cemetery. VA does not reserve space in national cemeteries prior to the time of need.