A gratuity in the amount of $500.00 shall be paid out of the General Fund in the State Treasury to any person who entered the armed services while he was a bona fide resident of the State of Alabama and who was imprisoned as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia.

In the event any person who qualified for the payment of this bonus died while such a prisoner, the gratuity shall be paid to his next of kin. For the purposes of this chapter the term @next of kin@ shall be the person or persons designated to receive the prisoner*s G.I. insurance.

No assignment or pledge as security for a loan or any right or claim to the bonus under this chapter shall be valid. No sum payable under this chapter to a veteran shall be subject to attachment, levy or seizure under any legal or equitable process, or be subject to taxation, either as income or otherwise, by the State of Alabama.

The State Department of Veterans* Affairs shall have complete charge and control of the payment of the bonus authorized in this chapter and may adopt general rules for the making of such payments, the ascertainment and selection of proper recipients of the bonus and the procedure for applying for and receiving bonuses. The State Department of Veterans* Affairs shall adopt general rules for determining the question of whether an applicant possesses the prerequisite qualification of residence in the State of Alabama at the time he entered the armed forces and such department shall prescribe by rule the nature of proof to be submitted to establish such facts as are necessary to claim the bonus provided for by this chapter.

All applications for bonus or gratuity payments provided in this chapter must be made to the State Department of Veterans* Affairs. No payment shall be made under this chapter except on applications duly received and approved by the department.

Upon approving an application for a bonus the State Department of Veterans* Affairs shall direct the State Comptroller to issue a warrant in the proper amount to the person entitled to receive the bonus. Such warrant shall be paid out of the General Fund in the State Treasury from any moneys therein not otherwise appropriated.