PORTSMOUTH — It’s time once again to honor those soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

VFW Alvaro E. Vieira Post 5390 will observe Memorial Day with a ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, May 30, at the post home at 822 Anthony Road.

The guest speaker will be Kim A. Ripoli, a life member of VFW Post 5390 who assumed the duties of associate director, Division of Veterans Affairs, in August 2012. She manages the Division's operations, coordinates mission execution and oversees more than 220 employees in the three branches.

Cub Scout Pack 50 will post the colors and lead in the reciting of “The Pledge of Allegiance.” American Legion Post 18 Commander Dave Duggan will give a brief history of Memorial Day. 

Voice of Democracy contest winners Emma Rainer and Kelly Conley, along with the second-place winner of the Patriot’s Pen, Nathaniel W. Harris, will read their essays. 

Adjutant Charles A. Peterson will read the names of the deceased members of Post 5390, including the three who died since last Memorial Day. Post Auxiliary President Shauna Fournier will read the remembrance for the guests who want to remember their relatives for friends. 

VFW Chaplain Comrade Michael Nott, chairman of the Portsmouth Veterans Honor Roll Committee, will discuss the criteria to have a name added to the Honor Roll.

Outside the hall, guests will gather in front of the memorial to the late SSG Christopher Potts, the only member of Post 5390 who was killed in action.

VFW Chaplain Comrade Michael Nott will offer the invocation and American Legion Chaplain Francis "Cisco" Gutierrez will offer the benediction. “Taps” will be played by Richard W. Ashmore, a Navy veteran and Portsmouth resident.

The program will end with the scouts raising the Holiday Ensign on the flagpole and then lowering it to half staff. Afterward, guests are invited back inside for refreshments.