SPRINGVALE — One hundred years ago at 10:59 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, the Allies and their German counterparts fired off their last salvos.

At 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, the gunfire suddenly stopped said Maine Army National Guard historian, Capt. Jonathan Bratten.

Then there was silence.

“It seemed like we were going from hell to heaven,” Bratten said one soldier wrote.

Bratten was speaking of the 103rd infantry unit of the Maine Army National Guard’s role in World War I, in the trenches just northeast of Verdun, France, as the minutes ticked off until 11 a.m., when hostilities formally ended.

Bratten spoke Sunday at Southern Maine Veteran’s Cemetery in Springvale, where people gathered to mark Veteran’s Day and the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I by dedicating a new memorial to the fallen.

It was designed by students, who fashioned silhouettes from metal and who chose and made the plantings that come spring, will provide a colorful, red back drop for the two white marble crosses flanking a Star of David on the hillside memorial.

At 10:58 a.m., those that had gathered at the veteran’s cemetery fell silent. At 10:59 a.m., World War II veteran and former Prisoner of War Leon Tanguay of Sanford struck the first of 11 bells he would sound.

Ellen Lehoux sang the National Anthem.

Senior Chief Peter Jordan of Massabesic Junior Naval ROTC gave the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Color Guard posted the colors.

Brother Henry Monday of the Brothers of Christian Instruction gave the invocation.

“As we remember our brothers and sisters who lost their lives in World War I, we pray you will grant them eternal rest,” he prayed.

Brettan noted that many who had fought and survived World War I went on to fight again in World War II or went into public service, to further serve their country. Among others, he mentioned Samuel Dana, a Passamaquoddy who lost a leg in World War I but returned home to serve as his tribe’s representative to the Maine Legislature in 1923, 1935 and 1943.

“Veterans are regular people from all walks of life, friends, neighbors, brothers and sisters, they’re ordinary, yet extraordinary,” state Sen. Ron Collins said.

Joe Doiron, president of the Southern Maine Veterans Memorial Committee, said he is proud of the association with Sanford Regional Technical Center and those there who made the memorial possible, who included those involved with the welding and fabrication, digital design and landscape and horticulture programs at the school.

He said the committee told the students they were looking for a simple, cost effective memorial, and that there should be plenty of poppies.

“There will be poppies,” come summer, said Megan LaChance, who, along with her fellow students in the horticulture and landscaping course at Sanford Regional Technical Center, helped design the hillside garden bed that holds the marble markers. As well, there will be bee balm, lilies, and tulips.

In this late fall season, the memorial garden was graced by dark red hardy mums, and the red twig dogwood that will produce white blossoms in the spring and will live up to its name this winter, with the shrubbery ‘s red stalks providing a contrast to the white snow, said Ryan Rideout.

Both Rideout and LaChance graduated in June, but were part of the group that designed the memorial, starting in September 2017, planning and then designing the garden, and planting the last week of May.

Emcee James Bachelder welcomed everyone.

“We are so glad to have every single one of you here today, “ he said to the crowd gathered in the chilly sunshine.

Bonnie Pothier spoke for Sen. Angus King.

“We must continue to serve our veterans with the same dedication that they served us,” Pother said on King’s behalf.

There was a rifle salute by the Sanford AMVETS Honor Guard.

“Taps,” was played by Laura Latinski.

Alasdair Haliday sounded “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes.

Members of Patriot Riders, Maine Chapter 1, ringed the ceremony area, each holding a large American flag.

Pastor Scott Haynes  of Calvary Baptist Church gave the benediction.

Rabbi Ira Korinow of Temple Israel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, gave the dedication prayer.

“As we gather on this, the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice — Nov. 11, 1918 — marking the end of the Great World War, we gather humbly and with great honor to remember those who died serving our nation during that most difficult war, that ended with the death of 10 million military personnel and 7 million civilians worldwide,” Rabbi Korinow said.

“God of freedom, we hear your charge, proclaim liberty throughout the land,” he prayed. “Inspire us through your teachings and commandments to love and uphold our precious democracy. Let every citizen take responsibility for the rights and freedoms we cherish. Like the veterans we remember through this memorial, let each of us be an advocate for justice, an activist for liberty, a defender of dignity. And let us champion the values that make our nation a haven for the persecuted, a beacon of hope among nations.”

“We pray for all who served our country during the Great World War with selfless devotion, from fields of battle to clinics and classrooms, from government to the grassroots: all those whose noble deeds and sacrifice benefited out nation and our world, even as we pray also for all who serve our country today in peace and in war,” he prayed.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.

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