BUCKFIELD — Buckfield middle school students had a chance to learn local history and to pay their respects to veterans on a recent walk through the town’s 13 cemeteries recently.

Organizer and teacher Gretchen Kimball said the nearly daylong event for nearly all seventh- and eighth-graders has been happening since 2005. The students place flags on the graves of each veteran’s tombstone in May and remove them in in November.

Morgan Arseneault, a seventh-grader, said she was surprised at how many veterans are buried in Buckfield cemeteries.

“We learned where to walk and not walk (in the cemeteries), the birth and death dates to see which war they were in, and where they are from,” she said. “I was surprised how many people actually died during a war.”

Kimball, a teacher of English Language Arts and science, said the children do historical research before going to the cemeteries. They also learn flag etiquette and learn the reasons for Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

The town buys the flags for the students to place on the graves, and the local American Legion post burns the worn flags.

Morgan said she has many family members who have been enlisted in a branch of the military in the past or who are currently serving.

Kimball said the trips to the cemeteries prompt many students to talk about family members who have served.

“It turns into a genuine conversation,” she said.

The cemetery visits are an extension of the schoolwide Day of Caring, where youngsters help the school or community.

Kimball said the students have learned of a recent Buckfield Junior-Senior High School graduate, Nate Fortier, who is serving in Afghanistan. She said they are writing questions for him and will conduct the interviews through Skype.

The cemetery trips have revealed many other surprises.

“There are places where you wouldn’t think there would be graves,” Morgan said.

One such example is a cemetery that only has the grave of Revolutionary War veteran Lt. Lair Thayer. By studying that grave site, students learned that Maine was once a part of Massachusetts.

Some teachers also ask their classes to research particular veterans, Kimball said.

Two educational technicians and five teachers accompanied the 83 students in groups of 20 a week before Memorial Day, then 40 of the students participated in the annual town parade.

“I believe this is a genuine service to the community,” Kimball said. “A genuine way for our children to be responsible and involved citizens.”