(a) As used in this section, “veteran” means any person (1) honorably discharged from, or released under honorable conditions from, active service in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard or any women’s auxiliary branch thereof, organized pursuant to an Act of Congress; (2) who has completed at least twenty years of qualifying service, as described in and computed under 10 USC Chapter 1223, as amended from time to time, in the Connecticut National Guard; or (3) who was killed in action, or who died as a result of accident or illness sustained while performing active service, in the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard or any women’s auxiliary branch thereof, organized pursuant to an Act of Congress, or in the Connecticut National Guard.

(b) (1) Any veteran may, by letter or other communication addressed to the commissioner, or by will, request that upon his or her death his or her body be buried in a veterans’ cemetery established pursuant to section 27-122a, or (2) the spouse or other next of kin may apply to the commissioner to have the body of such veteran buried in said veterans’ cemetery, and in either case such request shall be granted.

(c) (1) Any member or former member of the armed forces, as defined in subsection (a) of section 27-103, who is a resident of this state and is entitled to retirement pay under 10 USC Chapter 1223, as amended from time to time, or would have been entitled to retirement pay under said chapter, but for the fact that the person is under sixty years of age, may by letter or other communication addressed to the commissioner, or by will, request that his or her body will be buried in said veterans’ cemetery, or (2) the spouse or other next of kin may apply to the commissioner to have the body of such member or former member buried in said veterans’ cemetery, and, in either case, such request shall be granted.

(d) The spouse of any veteran shall, upon similar request or application made to the commissioner, be buried in said veterans’ cemetery provided only one such request or application shall be granted.

(e) The commissioner shall designate an area in said veterans’ cemetery for veterans who, for religious reasons, require burial in a consecrated area.

(1971, P.A. 352, S. 2; P.A. 75-483, S. 5, 10; P.A. 81-65; P.A. 88-74; 88-285, S. 20, 33, 35; P.A. 04-169, S. 13; P.A. 07-13, S. 1; P.A. 08-87, S. 3; P.A. 17-83, S. 3.)

History: P.A. 75-483 substituted “as defined in subsection (a) of section 27-103” for language defining the service period for the Vietnam era; P.A. 81-65 added Subsec. (d) requiring the commission to designate a consecrated area within the veterans’ cemetery; P.A. 81-65 effective at such time as the veterans’ home and hospital commission declares that the establishment of said veterans’ cemetery has been effected; P.A. 88-74 amended Subsec. (a)(3) to include service during invasion of Grenada and Lebanon in definition of “service in time of war”, and amended Subsec. (c) to permit one spouse of a veteran to be buried in the cemetery, regardless of order of death; P.A. 88-285 amended Subsecs. (b) to (d), inclusive, to replace commission with commissioner and changed effective date of P.A. 88-74 from October 1, 1988, to July 1, 1988; P.A. 04-169 amended Subsec. (a) to eliminate from the definition of “veteran” reference to service in time of war and references to domiciled in this state and to delete the definition of “service in time of war”, and made technical changes in Subsec. (b), effective June 1, 2004; P.A. 07-13 amended Subsec. (a) to delete definition of “armed forces” and redefine “veteran” and added “established pursuant to section 27-122a” and made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 08-87 added new Subsec. (c) re member or former member of armed forces who may be buried in veterans’ cemetery and redesignated existing Subsecs. (c) and (d) as new Subsecs. (d) and (e), effective July 1, 2008; P.A. 17-83 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to replace “service” with “qualifying service, as described in and computed under 10 USC Chapter 1223, as amended from time to time,”, amended Subsec. (c)(1) to add “as amended from time to time,” re 10 USC Chapter 1223, and amended Subsec. (c)(2) to replace “veteran” with “member or former member”, effective January 1, 2018.