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ABMC Commissioners
The authorizing legislation for the American Battle Monuments Commission (36 U.S.C., Chapter 21) specifies that the president will appoint 11 members to the commission and an officer of the regular Army to serve as the secretary. President Barack Obama appointed Max Cleland to serve as Secretary in June 2009. There currently are no appointed commissioners.
Honorable Max Cleland -- Secretary
Max Cleland has served his country for more than 40 years. After graduating from Stetson University in 1964 where he was commissioned in the United States Army, Cleland obtained a Master's Degree in American History from Emory University in Atlanta. He went on active duty in the Fall of 1965. He volunteered for Vietnam in 1967. Rising to the rank of captain, Cleland was wounded in combat and after a year-and-a- half in military and VA Hospitals, Cleland returned to his home state of Georgia. Elected to the State Senate in 1970, where he served two terms, Cleland was appointed head of the Veteran's Administration under President Carter in 1977. In 1981, he returned to Georgia and was elected first as Secretary of State and then as United States Senator.
