SANFORD — He wore a sweet smile in his military photograph, as many of them did. Roger Brulotte, who grew up on Bateman Street, went off to boot camp to serve his country in World War II.

“He got engaged to his sweetheart and went off to Normandy,” said his nephew, Michael Roger Brulotte, on Thursday.

Roger Brulotte, a son of Isadore and Alice Brulotte, went to Normandy on June 6, 1944. It was D-Day, that all-out effort to hit the Nazi enemy with full force. He left his landing craft ”“ he and so many more ”“ and hit Omaha Beach and, as family members recalled, stepped on a land mine. He was 19 years old. Brulotte’s war was over ”“ his and so many others on that day ”“ in the never ending war that shook the world.

Brulotte was one of 51 men from Sanford and Springvale who died fighting World War II. They were honored by the community ”“ from the elementary school students passing out programs to the World War II veterans who rose to their feet to tremendous applause when recognized at Sanford Memorial Gym on Thursday. The event was the culmination of the first leg of the Fallen Veterans Project, set out specifically to tell the stories of the fallen and to honor them for their service. One wall of the Memorial Gym, built in 1949 to honor all of Sanford and Springvale’s military veterans, was decorated with 51 tall banners bearing the photos of those who died.

Members of the Sanford Junior High School Band composed special music to honor them, writing pieces they composed in honor of each individual fallen veteran. Some were played during the ceremony; others were given to relatives of those who died.

Family members came from around the corner and beyond. Nine members of Albert Edelstein’s family traveled from various points in New England for the ceremony. Edelstein had been a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps, with nine missions left to serve when his plane was hit on Dec. 29, 1944 over Italy.

“They’ve done a fabulous job,” said his namesake, nephew Albert Edelstein, of the effort put forth to honor the fallen. 

“It’s a great tribute to their service,” said Marc Diwinsky, whose wife Linda is Edelstein’s niece.

This year marks the 70th since the end of World War II. Victory was declared in Europe May 8; and in the Pacific Sept. 2, 1945.

Joe Doiron, of the Great Works Foundation, a non-profit that operates at Sanford Regional Technical Center, spoke about the project that will continue on, and of the effort he called “more than just a project.” Through the months of research to track down the veterans families and their stories, he said, he got to know the fallen ones well. And while the banners will arch over Main Street beginning sometime next week in the lead-up to Memorial Day, the project will go on – next year the group hopes to publish booklets with the biographies of the 51 servicemen who died.

The guest speaker was retired U.S. Air Force Lt. General Donald Lamontagne. He pointed out that 16.2 million U.S. men and women served in the military from the beginning of World War II to the end.

The attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Dec. 7, 1941, “instantly motivated the nation,” Lamontagne said. “We declared war on Japan, and Hitler declared war on us.”

Those who served didn’t sign up for a two- or four- year hitch, Lamontagne noted; they signed up for the duration. Their mission then, as it is for the military today, is to preserve the homeland, win the war, and preserve a way of life, he said.

The Fallen Veterans Project was an effort by many, including Patty Paradis’ fourth-grade class at Carl J. Lamb School (which raised more than $8,500 for the banners), the instrumental music department and technical education program at Sanford Junior High School and the art club and instrumental music department at Sanford High School. The project included works by graphic arts, graphic design, media studies, building trades, residential wiring program Skills USA members, the horticulture program, computer aided design, computer and program systems and culinary arts departments at Sanford Regional Technical Center. It included efforts of others too, including Claire and Gilles Auger, Paul Auger, Bill Botting, Rhonda Brunell, Blair Doiron, Joe Doiron, Karen Mullis and Sanford Parks and Recreation.

At the wall of banners, family members chatted quietly and posed with photos of their loved ones. There were smiles, and there was some welling up of emotion.

Irene Brulotte, who married Roger’s brother ”“ the now-late Armand Brulotte ”“ said neither she or her son Michael knew Roger. Her husband was just 14 years old when the word came from the war department that he had been killed. Irene and Armand Brulotte were able to go to France in 1987, to visit where her husband’s brother perished.

Michael Brulotte has his uncle’s Purple Heart, and the letter from President Franklin Roosevelt to Roger’s parents, informing them of the death.

“This is really, really great,” he said of the Fallen Veterans Project. “This is really special.”

The Master of ceremonies, Rowan Fitzgerald, read a letter written by a captain assigned to accompany the remains of 1st Lt. Ralph Hanson back to Sanford after the war, taking the train from New York to North Berwick, then making its way to town.

“His mother wept,” the captain wrote.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].