I have fought hard for the past four years persuading Mississippi senators and representatives to give priority to a full homestead exemption for veterans who were permanently and totally disabled in military service.

I thought one of the nine bills introduced this year would at least get attention after promises from so many legislators, but they all died in committee. I really wasn’t surprised, given the nonsupport from prior years.

What did surprise me was a bill that passed overwhelmingly, House Bill 1160, was signed by the governor. I love the Blues. I was raised as one of eight siblings on a Delta plantation as a white sharecropper. We would sit on the porch with the old Blues singers on Sunday afternoons; we were as much a part of the Blues as anyone.

But when a veteran sacrifices and gives all the future joys of life for his country and state, well, to see how much he is appreciated is just disgusting, at least to me. Good luck to the “Blues State Agency.”

Bobby Jefcoat

Batesville