PORTERVILLE – The names and faces of 71 military veterans will fly proudly over Porterville for the first time this Memorial Day weekend as they are added to the city’s Military Banner Program.

The new banners will be commemorated in a ceremony at noon on Friday, May 26 at Centennial Park to honor late and living veterans and memorialize those who died in the service of their country. The program pays tribute to courage, commitment and heroism displayed by Porterville residents who served in the armed forces. The community is invited to attend and recognize these hometown heroes and all those in military service.

The Military Banner Program was started in 2016 for the Porterville area as a way to honor past and current military personnel for their service to the nation and community. The banners act as a public recognition of the bravery, loyalty and sacrifice displayed by individuals who have served in the Armed Forces. This year’s nominees bring the total number of banners to nearly 900 for the city of roughly 63,000 residents.

Family members and loved ones may nominate a military hero to be honored with a banner showing the individual’s name and photo. The program application fee is waived for any nomination submitted on behalf of a local individual killed in action (KIA).

Banners are raised each year for Memorial Day. The submission deadline for nominations for the 2023 display period was Feb. 1, 2023. The next application period is Dec. 1, 2023 through Feb 1, 2024.