The gravestone of Pvt. Ralph B. Frost at Wayside Cemetery in West Paris marks the resting place of the World War I soldier who was killed in action four days before the armistice was signed to end World War I in 1918. He was the only one of 42 applicants to qualify for the 28th Machine Gun Battalion and served at St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne in France. He was killed Nov. 7, 1918. According to a 1931 special edition of The Oxford County Citizen, “Mr. Frost was born in Bethel, Dec. 31, 1891. He was educated in the public schools and at Gould Academy” in Bethel, and went to Camp Devens in April 1917. “He was a young man of fine character and courage, and is remembered fondly by his comrades and friends. His mother, Mrs. Irving French, is one of Bethel’s Gold Star Mothers,” the article said. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

Memorial Day celebrations across the state were cancelled due to 2020, but veterans groups still honored those who served with traditional graveside flag tributes, like here in Wayside Cemetery in West Paris. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat

A total of 660 flags are staked into front of NAPA Auto Parts on Route 26 in Oxford on Memorial Day. The flags are in remembrance of the number of veterans lost monthly to suicide. Nicole Carter / Advertiser Democrat