Except for cremated remains disposed of as provided in section 71-1382.01, it shall be the duty of the county veterans service committee to cause to be decently interred the body of any person who has been discharged or otherwise separated with a characterization of honorable or general (under honorable conditions) from any arm of the military or naval service of the United States and who dies without leaving sufficient means to defray such person's funeral expenses. Such burials should not be made in any cemetery or burial grounds used exclusively for the burial of pauper dead. The committee shall permit the surviving relatives of the deceased to conduct the funeral if they request to do so.