DOVER — The Kent County chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America will host its annual Vietnam Veterans Day ceremony at the Kent County Veterans Memorial Park, South Little Creek Road, on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Marco Polo Antonio Giovanni Smigliani will serve as keynote speaker. Mr. Smigliani was born in war-ravaged Poggiofiorito, Italy, after the end of World War II. He and some of his family emigrated to the United States, settling in Boston. He became an American citizen in 1963, when he was 15; enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968; and was sent to Vietnam, where he earned four Purple Hearts in battles that took the lives of many of his fellow Marines.

Mr. Smigliani has been recognized for his work with the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which provides scholarships to the surviving children of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to surviving children of law enforcement officers.

He is an active member of the Stockton University Military & Veterans Advisory Board in Galloway Township, New Jersey, and is described by many as a true American patriot.

The ceremony is open to the public. As always, the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by a child from the audience.