38:17-1 - Interment of indigent veterans; definitions
38:17-1. Interment of indigent veterans; definitions
38:17-1. The board of chosen freeholders in each of the counties shall designate a proper authority, other than that designated by law for the care of paupers and the custody of criminals, who shall cause to be interred the bodies of all honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, marines or nurses who served, or shall have served, in the Army or Navy of the United States in time of emergency, or during any war in which the United States has been engaged, is engaged or shall be engaged, including the bodies of all honorably discharged members of the American Merchant Marine who served during World War II and have been declared by the United States Department of Defense to be eligible for federal veterans' benefits, who shall die without leaving means sufficient to defray funeral expenses. The expense of such funeral shall not exceed in any case the sum of $250.00.
Such authority shall also, upon application by an interested party, cause to be interred the bodies of members of the Armed Forces of the United States who died in active service during the second World War, or in time of emergency. The expense of such interment shall not in any case exceed the sum of $50.00.
As used in this act the term "in time of emergency" shall mean and include any time (a) after June 23, 1950, and prior to January 31, 1955, and (b) during the period in which warlike conditions exist in the southeast Asia area commencing as of January 1, 1961 and terminating on May 7, 1975.
For the purposes of this act active service in the "southeast Asia area" means and includes such service in any area in southeast Asia in which armed conflict or warlike conditions exist as determined by the President and includes not only land based service in said area but also service in said area with the United States Navy and Air Force regardless of where the individual's ship or unit is based.
Amended 1945,c.302; 1947,c.175,s.1; 1951,c.136; 1967,c.160; 1991,c.389,s.11.