Remembrances a ‘sacred act,’ Portsmouth vet says

Post 5390 hosts Memorial Day ceremony

Jim McGaw
Posted 5/30/16

PORTSMOUTH — Paying tribute to a deceased veteran is a simple thing, Kim A. Ripoli said, but it has great meaning for their family, friends and other military personnel who served …

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Remembrances a ‘sacred act,’ Portsmouth vet says

Post 5390 hosts Memorial Day ceremony

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Paying tribute to a deceased veteran is a simple thing, Kim A. Ripoli said, but it has great meaning for their family, friends and other military personnel who served alongside them.

“On this day of remembrance, if you do nothing else, remember those who gave the full measure of devotion to our country,” said Ms. Ripoli, the guest speaker at VFW Post 5390’s Memorial Day ceremony Monday morning. “Remembrances may seem a modest contribution, but it is a sacred act — a singularly human gift that keeps on giving year after war-fatigued year.”

The associate director of the R.I. Division of Veterans Affairs and a life member of Post 5390, Ms. Ripoli said today’s soldiers are carrying on a “proud legacy of bravery” as they perform their duties as those before them in countless number of battle conflicts.

“At this very moment around the world, in some of the most desolate places you can ever imagine, Americans are fighting and dying in the global war on terrorism,” said Ms. Ripoli, a multiple-tour combat veteran. “I remember every day my comrades who did not come home. It is tremendously meaningful to know that this day is so dedicated to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and that Americans all over the world will be bearing witness and remembering in their homeland. Those who are gone are not forgotten.”

After her speech, Ms. Ripoli gave a brief update of plans to replace the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol with a new facility that will have 192 skilled care nursing beds. The building is projected for completion in fall 2017. Volunteer help and donations are always welcome, she said. 

“One gentleman donated five acoustic guitars,” she said. “It’s little things like that.”

Students read essays

The ceremony featured three essays written by local students for the VFW’s National Voice of Democracy (VOD) and Patriot’s Pen writing contests, for high school students and children in grades 6-8, respectively.

Kelly Conley, a junior at Portsmouth High School, was Rhode Island’s first-place winner in the VOD and the recipient of the $1,500 Department of Arkansas and Auxiliary Les Thone Memorial Scholarship. 

In her essay, Kelly said the future for the country lies in not what it faces but how it approaches the problem. “Will we give up when the pressure becomes too much, or will we push through and find a solution?” she said. “Not only do I believe, but I know that my country will find a solution for every problem it comes across.”

She cited Amercia’s momentary setback during the “space race” in 1961, when the Soviet Union became the first country to put a man into orbit. “Instead of giving up, our country took the next step forward and through hard work we were able to put a man on the moon only seven years later, giving us the ultimate victory,” Kelly said. 

Emma Rainer, first-place Post winner in the VOD contest, touched upon her experience of having been born into a Navy family, and shared lessons from the hard work endured by her father, Town Administrator Richard Rainer, when he served.

More than three decades ago, Mr. Rainer spent three years in the engineering plant aboard the USS Horne — a decidedly unglamorous job. 

“As he descended into the No. 1 boiler room, he felt he was experiencing every level of Dante’s Hell,” said Emma. “Each deck was hotter, nastier and noisier than the last; the occupants became scarier and more tattooed the lower he went. He remembers distinctly thinking he could have sold insurance.”

Emma said she was glad he didn’t. Her dad went on to become a surface warfare officer and later a director at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport.

“Those were his shipmates. They weren’t always nice, and they didn’t tolerate fools, but they did their best to make him an officer,” she said. “My dad’s anecdote indicates the importance of awareness, hard work and trust, despite the presence of things that may cloud our ability to view each other as what we are — fellow Americans.”

Patriot Pen Post and District winner Nathaniel Harris placed second among Rhode Islanders for his essay, based on the theme, “What freedom means to me.” Nathaniel focused on the freedoms many Americans take for granted and which are preserved by soldiers’ sacrifice.

“I will never be in prison for speaking my mind because of the soldiers fighting for my country,” he said.

Not just in May

American Legion Post 18 Commander David Duggan said the deceased men and women who served their country need to be remembered as heroes — “not just every year in May” — but always.

“Today we remember all of our deceased service members, many who have never returned or even have been accounted for, paying the ultimate price of their lives. And the others who have passed on due to age, many dealing with the memory of conflict and the horror that defending our country brings. Let us never forget that the freedoms we enjoy every day come at the greatest price.”

Post Adjutant Comrade Charles A. Peterson read the names of the deceased Post 5390 members, including three who passed away since last Memorial Day. It took him nearly 10 minutes to get through the list. 

Among those names was that of the late Staff Sgt. Christopher Potts, the only Post member to be killed in action. He died killed in the line of duty in Iraq in 2004, on his 38th birthday. The Post has a memorial to Staff Sgt. Potts outside.

Carlton Johnson, Post 5390’s senior vice commander, presided over Monday’s ceremony. Michael Nott, VFW chaplain, gave the invocation and benediction, and Cub Scout Pack 50 posted the colors and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Richard Ashmore played “Taps.”

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