Raising the Flag / Hisser le drapeau

In 1850, 216 Searsport men listed their occupations as sailor, work that was familiar and traditional in this and other maritime communities, and the men were often gone for years at a time. Young men from Searsport also left to go to war, beginning with the Civil War. Less than 50 years after Appomattox, young people left again for World War I, the "war to end all wars." On August 16, 1918, a service flag with 41 stars was carried down Main Street. The Adjutant General of the State of Maine reported that 39 Searsport residents served in the armed forces from 1917 to 1919, and local people would have known how many of their loved ones were in the war.

Searsport, Maine · United States