Unless the context requires otherwise, in this chapter the following definitions apply:
(1) "Board" means the board of veterans' affairs provided for in 2-15-1205.
(2) "Veteran" means an honorably discharged individual who served on active duty, other than for training, with the United States armed forces, including an individual who served with the United States coast guard. The term includes individuals who served with the first special service force and the American merchant marine in oceangoing service during the period of armed conflict, December 7, 1941, to August 15, 1945.