An American flag that was draped outside South Portland High School for several months after graduates Angel Rosa and Jason Swiger died in Iraq last year has quietly been returned to the building entrance to memorialize a third war casualty: Justin Buxbaum.

No other Maine high school has suffered so many losses in Middle East conflicts, since the death of Buxbaum, who died of a gunshot wound on May 30.

Principal Jeanne Crocker said that after losing two former students within weeks of each other in 2007, there was a feeling in the school community that there would be no more deaths.

“We didn’t think it could happen again,” said Crocker.

Her comments were echoed by students and faculty this week, who say that the deaths of the three South Portland soldiers in 14 months bring home the dangers of war and the risks to young people who enlist.

Crocker plans a plaque to commemorate the former students:

• Buxbaum, an Army Specialist, who died in Afghanistan on Memorial Day. He was a 2004 South Portland High School graduate.

• Marine Lance Cpl. Angel Rosa, 21, also a 2004 graduate, who died on March 13, 2007, in Iraq.

• Army Sgt. Jason Swiger, 24, who died in Iraq on March 25, 2007. He was a 2000 graduate.

“It just seems that all too often we have an announcement that another soldier from South Portland was killed in the war,” said senior Tom Biskup, treasurer of the Student Senate. “Every time Mrs. Crocker comes on with an announcement now, we cross our fingers and hope that it’s good news, not bad news.”

“Obviously, when any soldier dies, it’s horrible,” noted Jake Viola, a high school junior and president of the Student Senate. “But these losses show everyone the war’s impact on family, friends and our community. The war is not on the back burner for us. We realize that Americans are dying.”

Student Parker Gerrish said it is still hard for him to comprehend that the former students are gone.

Gerrish met Swiger, who visited his middle school. He has friends who knew Rosa. And his older sister used to hang out with Buxbaum.

“When it is people you have known and grew up with, it is hard to imagine that something like this could happen,” said Gerrish, 17, who is president of the high school Key Club.

Gerrish said some teachers seem particularly saddened by Buxbaum’s death.

“All the teachers picture him with a football in his hand. He always was very athletic,” he said.

Alison Gerrish, Parker’s older sister, was friends with Buxbaum.

Alison, who graduated in 2005, said he dated a friend of hers but they broke up before Buxbaum entered the military service.

“He was one of the nicest people you would meet,” she said. “We would watch movies, go for coffee, hang out in the Old Port. He was a little quiet and very funny.”

Alison Gerrish, who attends the University of Maine, described Buxbaum “as athletic, very cute and kind of a toothpick. He was skinny.”

She also was friends with Angel Rosa’s sister. They played softball together in high school.

“This is all kind of heart-breaking,” Alison said. “It makes me wish this war never happened. We are losing so many great people, and I am upset that South Portland has been hit so hard.”

South Portland High School teachers are at a loss, as well.

“I worked with Justin for a while. I often would ask about him after he graduated,” said Jon Beausang, a special-education instructor. “He made an impression on me.”

Beausang said he considered Buxbaum to be among the top students at the school. “He was a genuinely decent and caring kid. The world needs more Justins.”

Beausang said he sometimes worried about Buxbaum, because he seemed to always put the needs of others before himself. “If someone needed help, he was the first to volunteer. Justin was so eager to do and be the best.

“He was so sincere at wanting to do well. This is a real loss.”

Robyn Fink said Buxbaum was a student in her chemistry class. She recalled his positive, can-do attitude.

“He always had a big smile. He was a hard worker when many other kids complain or have other priorities,” she said.

Buxbaum stood out because he did not seem to bow to peer pressure, instead striving “to go a step beyond what was required. He followed his own voice,” she said.

Fink recently signed a card that was mailed from the school community to Buxbaum in Afghanistan.

“I just said, ‘Please come home safely.’ I wonder if he ever got it… This is such a tragedy because you could see the promise he had.”