SANFORD — Some were lost at sea when their ships were torpedoed by the enemy; others in France, or in the skies over Italy, or elsewhere. They died in service to their country, fighting the enemy in a war that spanned the globe.

Some served aboard ships, some were in the infantry, others, like Albert Edelstein, were pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Donald Baker was in the Army ”“ he and fellow Sanford native Paul Lesperance were declared missing in action on Christmas Day in 1944, and were later declared killed in action.

In all, around 53 men from Sanford and Springvale perished in World War II. They were single men and married men, young men in their 20s and 30s.

So with 2015 marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, some local folks are seeing to it that they’re remembered by the entire community ”“ and honored by everyone who drives through the city next May.

From sometime around the first of May through Memorial Day, there will be banners hung on Main Street, bearing a photo of each service member who died in the war, their branch of service and rank, and the date they perished. There will be an opening ceremony, perhaps in Central Park, with the Sanford Junior High School band playing, and the plan is to have biographies available of each of the men.

“We’ll do it up right,” said Joe Doiron, who is spearheading the effort as part of the Great Works Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit educational foundation at Sanford Regional Technical Center, where Doiron is also in charge of special projects. Also involved are some fourth-grade students, who have been fundraising for the banners, and some junior high school students, who have been helping with research. Technical school students in graphic design, photography and a number of other disciplines are involved, too.

A key to the project is finding photographs of all of the men, said Doiron, and so anyone who sees the name of a friend or relative on the accompanying list is asked to contact him.

While the project is aimed at honoring those who lost their lives, and is embraced by their families, it is a history lesson for students, too, Doiron said.

Along the way, as Doiron has been researching all those who died, he’s had conversations with numerous relatives.

“Everyone we’re dealing with, the relatives, lost somebody,” he said.

And even after all these years, Doiron continued, it’s still an emotional topic. He’s heard, he said, some gripping stories.

Like that of Albert Edelstein, a Sanford boy with two years of college under his belt, who went off to war, flying a plane for the U.S. Army Air Corps. His family owned Hooz’s store, downtown. A photo of him leaning out of his aircraft shows a smiling, movie-star handsome 23-year-old. He was killed in action over Italy on Dec. 29, 1944. And then there’s the letter, received by his family in Sanford months later. It was dated Dec. 28 ”“ the day before he died ”“ and tells of the nine missions he had left to fly.

“I’m getting closer to the goal every day,” he wrote. “Keep praying! (The missions) seem to get tougher as the end comes in sight.”

There’s also the letter a Marine captain wrote home to the mother of Joseph “Jimmy” Boisclair, who was killed in the Pacific in July 1944; he was 20 years old.

“Jimmy was my runner during the 27 days of fighting on Saipan and six days in Tinian,” his captain wrote. “We were together constantly, through some very dangerous times. He never left my side. He was my closest friend and advisor and protector. … He was one of the bravest and most courageous men I have ever seen in action.”

The 20-year-old was hit by an enemy bullet and died from his wounds.

Doiron, who served in the Air Force and whose father served the Navy, adopted the banner project from one he saw while visiting Virginia City, Nevada. Walking through the city, he said he had to stop and read every one.

So he brought the idea home to Sanford. And the research has been fascinating. Besides conversations with friends and relatives, and trips to the library, Doiron has combed websites, looking for information, many times.

His efforts are appreciated by folks like Norman Baker, who was 6 years old when soldiers came to the door to tell the family that the 30-year-old husband and father, Donald, was missing in action.

“It was hard,” said Baker. “I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew it was bad news.”

What he and his family didn’t know for some time, is that Baker ”“ and Paul Lesperance ”“ were aboard the Leopardville, headed for the Battle of the Bulge, when the Belgian troopship was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Cherbourg, France. About 800 perished. It was kept quiet because the Allies didn’t want the Germans to know they’d had a successful hit. It wasn’t until April 1945 that the family was told Donald Baker died ”“ the second lieutenant wouldn’t leave his men behind on the sinking vessel. Specific details of the sinking didn’t emerge until years later.

“I think the banner project is terrific,” said Baker. “What Joe is doing is pretty amazing.”

Doiron lost an uncle, Gilbert Doiron, on the USS Reuben James, a destroyer that was sunk in the European theater on Oct. 30, 1941. A little more than a month later, on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan bombed the U.S. Navy fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Doiron began the research project in the winter. It has been fascinating, he said. And with the school children involved ”“ from a fourth-grade class at Carl J. Lamb School raising $3,300 of the $6,500 cost of the project, to the junior high researchers and the technical school students ”“ it has been collaborative venture, he said.

“It’s taken on a life of its own. And the families are so happy. It’s been a thrill for me,” Doiron said.

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