SANFORD — They were the doughboys who didn’t come home, the ones America — and indeed, every country who sent troops to fight in World War I — pledged to never forget.

This Nov. 11 will mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the war to end all wars, as it was called.

While many fought in the war and returned home, in Sanford and Springvale, 15 did not. They were among the 116,516 Americans who died in World War I, according to figures from the Veterans Administration.

Sanford and Springvale, the village within its boundaries, will remember U.S. Army members Thomas Cole, Thomas Carrier and Samuel Valley. They will remember Arthur Dexter and Arthur Green. They’ll remember brothers-in-law Leroy Cotton and Mahlon Wilson, who died two months and one day apart from one another in France. They’ll pause to remember Arthur Lavigne, John McGrath, Lenwood Littlefield and Albert Guay — and Thomas J. Binette and Harry Porter, who served in the U.S. Navy. They’ll honor Robert Steel, who served with the British Army, and Alphonse Lavoie who served with the Canadian Army.

The 15 will be especially remembered on Tuesday, when the Fallen Veterans Project hosts public ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., at Sanford Veterans Memorial Gymnasium, 678 Main St. The Fallen Veterans Project has previously produced remembrances in conjunction with Sanford schools honoring local veterans who died in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Members of the Sanford Junior High School 8th grade band, who composed music for each of the fallen, will perform. There will be stories told, memories to hold close.

Joe Doiron of the Fallen Veterans Project, along with other volunteers, including his brother Blaine, have been researching the 15 fallen for some time. Doiron spoke about Mahlon Wilson and Leroy Cotton, who married twin sisters, Mildred and Myrtle Stone. They served in the same unit, in K Company, 59th Infantry, 4th Division. Cotton, 29, was killed in action on July 19, 1918. in a battle at Chateau Thierry, France. Wilson, 25, lost a leg in the fighting — and died of his wounds in a European hospital one month and one day later, on Aug. 20, 1918.

Cotton’s grandson, Leroy “Roy” Hersom, said he plans to attend the two ceremonies. Growing up, he said, his maternal grandfather, for whom he was named, ”was a picture on the wall.” It wasn’t until after his mother died that he found more information abut his grandfather, and more photographs and memorabilia, which will be displayed at the ceremonies.

Hersom’s grandfather and his great-uncle, Mahlon Wilson, went to basic training together at Fort Greene, North Carolina, they went overseas together, and were in the same company, he said.

“They’re buried next to each other at Riverside Cemetery in Springvale,” said Doiron.

Anna Hoffman, a grand-niece of Thomas W. Cole, for whom the Sanford American Legion Post is named, is scheduled to attend, as well, said Doiron. Cole, of the Trench Mortar Battery, 26th Division, was killed in action on May 10, 1918, in Verdun, France.

Also among the 15 was Alphonse Joseph Lavoie, born July 6, 1882, in Quebec, a son of Lazare and Elobe Lavoie. Census records show by 1900, the family was living in Sanford. A painter and a paperhanger by trade, Lavoie enlisted in the Canadian Army as part of the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force, on March 1, 1918. By March 24 he was on a ship headed for England, according to war records available on the Government of Canada website. He arrived in England on April 3, and was killed in action on Sept. 1, in Hendecourt, France. Lavoie was 36 years old.

Banners, bearing portraits of the fallen — or marble crosses, where no photos were available — and featuring scarlet poppies and flags, will be hung along Main Street from Sanford High School Boulevard to to Springvale in advance of the Memorial Day parade, set for 10 a.m. on Monday, May 28.

Helping with the banners were students from various Sanford Regional Technical Center programs — like digital design, the media program and precision machining, said Doiron.

SRTC digital design student Shauna Ford, a senior at Marshwood High School, helped with the banners, inserting information on the fallen soldiers.

“I thought the banner project was pretty cool, especially since I got to see a little bit into each of the men’s history,” she said. “It’s also awesome how much this work could mean something to these families.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.