(1) Any legal resident of the State of Mississippi who was a prisoner of war or who is a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor is privileged to obtain one (1) motor vehicle license plate or tag on an annual basis in his county of legal residence. The registration year of such motor vehicle shall commence the first day of the month in which application for registration is made, as provided in Section 27-19-31, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(2) This section pertains only to tags or plates for private passenger motor vehicles or pickup trucks.

(3) Proof of ownership of each particular motor vehicle for which a license plate or tag is requested and proof that the owner thereof is a former prisoner of war or a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor must be shown at time of application for such plate or tag. A certificate from the State Veterans Affairs Board stating that said individual is a former prisoner of war or a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor shall be sufficient proof.

(4) Vehicles owned by such former prisoners of war, a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor or the unmarried surviving spouse of any such person are hereby exempt from all motor vehicle registration fees and privilege taxes.

(5) The State Tax Commission is directed to furnish to the tax collector of each county a sufficient number of distinctive motor vehicle license plates or tags which shall be of such color and design as the State Tax Commission shall prescribe subject to the approval of the Mississippi License Tag Commission and in accordance with the provisions of Section 27-19-41. However, such distinctive plates or tags shall bear and include the words “Ex-POW.”

(6) A license issued under this section shall not be transferable to any other person; however, the surviving spouse of a deceased person who was issued a license plate or tag under this section shall be entitled to apply for or retain a license issued under this section and may continue annually to renew registration for one (1) motor vehicle license plate or tag under this section for as long as the spouse remains unmarried. At the time of application or renewal registration, a surviving spouse who desires to retain the distinctive plate or tag issued under this section shall file with the county tax collector a sworn statement that the spouse is unmarried.

(7) Any person evading or violating any of the provisions of this section, or attempting to secure benefits under this section to which he is not entitled, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than six (6) months, or both.

(8) As used in this section, the term “prisoner of war” means any regularly appointed, enrolled, enlisted or inducted member of the military or naval forces of the United States who was held as a prisoner of war for any period of time by any government of any nation with which the United States has been at war; and it also means any regularly appointed, enrolled, enlisted or inducted member of the Armed Forces of the United States who was held as a prisoner of war for any period of time subsequent to June 25, 1950, by any hostile force with which the Armed Forces of the United States were actually engaged in armed conflict subsequent to such date and prior to August 21, 1954, or any person (military or civilian) assigned to duty on the U.S.S. Pueblo who was captured by the military forces of North Korea on January 23, 1968, and thereafter held prisoner by the government of North Korea for any period of time ending on or before December 23, 1968, except any person who, at any time, voluntarily, knowingly and without duress, gave aid to or collaborated with or in any manner served any such hostile force; and it also means any regularly appointed, enrolled, enlisted or inducted member of the Armed Forces of the United States who was held as a prisoner of war for any period of time during the Vietnam Conflict by any force hostile to the United States, except any such member who, at any time, voluntarily, knowingly and without duress, gave aid to or collaborated with, or in any manner served, such hostile force. The term “Vietnam Conflict” relates to the period beginning February 28, 1961, and ending on such date as shall thereafter be determined by presidential proclamation or concurrent resolution of the Congress.