38 U.S.C. § 112
Section 112 · Presidential memorial certificate program
Current version, with additions and removals from the December 6, 2002 version.
(a) At the request of the President the Secretary may conduct a program for honoring the memory of deceased veterans, discharged under honorable conditions, by preparing and sending to eligible recipients a certificate bearing the signature of the President and expressing the country's grateful recognition of the veteran's service in the Armed Forces. The award of a certificate to one eligible recipient will not preclude authorization of another certificate if a request is received from some other eligible recipient.
(b) For the purpose of this section an “eligible recipient” means the next of kin, a relative or friend upon request, or an authorized service representative acting on behalf of such relative or friend.
(c) A certificate may not be furnished under the program under subsection (a) on behalf of a deceased person described in section 2411(b) of this title.
At the request of the President the Secretary may conduct a program for honoring the memory of deceased persons eligible for burial in a national cemetery by reason of any of paragraphs (1), (2), (3), or (7) of section 2402(a) of this title, by preparing and sending to eligible recipients a certificate bearing the signature of the President and expressing the country’s grateful recognition of the deceased individual’s service in the Armed Forces. The award of a certificate to one eligible recipient will not preclude authorization of another certificate if a request is received from some other eligible recipient.
For the purpose of this section an “eligible recipient” means the next of kin, a relative or friend upon request, or an authorized service representative acting on behalf of such relative or friend.
A certificate may not be furnished under the program under subsection (a) on behalf of a deceased person described in section 2411(b) of this title.