"For me, it's a solemn moment of reflection for what this country's done," said Great Kills resident Eileen Brower, of Military Families Speak Out. Her son James, a Marine, is serving his third tour in Iraq. "I like to keep reminding people that we're still at war."

"If people who aren't involved in monitoring the day-to-day progress of the war get the perception we are pulling out, they'll start thinking, 'I don't have to think about it. I don't have to talk about it. I don't have to deal with the war's ugly ramifications," says Dan Naylor, one of seven members of the state Department of Veterans Affairs governing board and also a member of Military Families Speak Out.

Two members of Canada's Parliament met Sunday with a U.S. Army deserter being held at the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego. Olivia Chow and Borys Wrzesnewskyj were among those who opposed the Canadian government’s decision to deport Robin Long so that he could stand court martial for desertion. Long, now 25, fled to British Columbia in 2005 when his Fort Carson, Colo.-based unit was ordered to deploy to Iraq. "He's a sweetheart," said Dawn O'Brien, leader of the San Diego chapter of Military Families Speak Out. "He's doing very well and he was very pleased for the visit."

Local members of the Military Families Speak Out, an organization of military families against the war, paid tribute to the troops who have lost their lives in Iraq by holding a funeral procession through Seal Beach and Long Beach this afternoon.

We must ask President Obama, now more than ever: How many more quiet graveyards will echo with the wails of families who have lost their beloveds to this war that never should have been, before it is finally over?

For Karen Meredith the change comes too late, Martin reports. "When Ken came home, I never got that photograph of him returning to his home country, the country that he loved so much," Meredith says. When her son, Lt. Ken Ballard returned to Dover the military would not allow even his mother to have a picture. "I just wanted to see it," she says. "I just wanted to know that he was being taken care of."

One of the family members who favors lifting the ban is Karen Meredith of San Francisco, California, who wrote Obama urging him to order the change. Lt. Ken Ballard left for Iraq on Mother's Day 2003. He came home in a casket on Memorial Day 2004. "I wanted the nation to grieve with me, and if we don't see those images we don't know that these young men and women are dying," she said.

Since 1991, with only a few exceptions, the media has been barred from filming or photographing the flag-draped coffins of service-members as they arrive back at Delaware's Dover Air Force Base from Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Obama administration is reviewing the practice to consider whether the media restrictions should be lifted. Karen Meredith and Merilee Carlson both lost children serving in the Iraq war — Meredith is the mother of Lt. Ken Ballard, who died in May 2004, and Carlson's son Sgt. Michael Carlson died in January 2005. The moms share their different perspectives on the photography ban, and discuss sensitivities involved for families of fallen soldiers.

Kevin P. and Joyce Lucey were in Washington, D.C., at a meeting of Military Families Speak Out when the Army announced [a] "stand down" recently [ to address the skyrocketing number of suicides by active duty troops.] "We were surprised that the Army was surprised," Kevin Lucey said. "We've seen this coming for such a long period of time."

This war has been fought in the name of the American people, the dead belong to the Nation and are part of this human family of Americans. Let us mourn them, honor them, see them and know they are all ours, weep for them, and then hold our selves accountable for the price of their service to us.

We are the members of Military Families Speak Out. We keep "speaking out," but it seems like no one is listening anymore. Our soldiers languishing in Iraq are forgotten amidst news of bailouts, economic stimulus package, and talks of escalation in Afghanistan.

Antiwar activist Dawn O'Brien of Oceanside frets plenty about her three Marine sons, two of whom have served in Iraq. She worries almost as much, though, about another young soldier – the one who is sitting in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station because he refused to fight.

Military Families Speak Out will start the weekend with a “teach-in” on Friday, “featuring testimonies from those whose lives have been directly impacted by the war.” Spc. Darius Johnson’s mom will be there. He won’t be able to make it; he died in Iraq in 2003.

The parents of a deploying and a former Oregon Army National Guard soldier petitioned the Legislature on Wednesday to keep the Guard from returning to Afghanistan and Iraq. The two joined dozens of peace, veterans and labor groups asking legislators to give the governor authority to withhold the Guard -- and then, direct him to do so. Oregon is one of 18 states where organizations seized the first day of the Obama administration to challenge the original emergency authorization.

Every Wednesday since mid-August 2005 — approximately 175 straight Wednesdays — a couple of dozen women and men have gathered in front of the National Guard Armory here for 90 minutes, starting at 4:30 p.m., to hold a peace vigil against the war. They carry signs that Paula Rogovin, a teacher, always keeps handy in the trunk of her Toyota, demanding that the troops be brought home. They hold four-foot-high numbers updating the latest death toll of American soldiers that Tom Urgo, a plumber, painted and lacquered.

Some attendees are more interested in calling attention to political issues than cheering on Obama. Kelli Large, 23, will be donning a cancan dancer costume as a part of a protest by the women's activist organization CODEPINK. Large, who is also a member of Military Families Speak Out, participated in a CODEPINK contest called Pledges for Peace. Her brother, John Jackson, is a combat medic with the 101st Airborne. She hoofed it around her hometown of Moravia and set up a CODEPINK booth at Cornell to urge people to call for an end to the war. She collected nearly 300 signatures and won a trip to Washington, paid for by CODEPINK, to participate in activism during the inauguration festivities.

The government has agreed to pay $350,000 to the family of a Marine combat veteran who committed suicide after what his family alleged was negligent mental-health care at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in Massachusetts.

In what the plaintiffs' lawyer said could be a ground-breaking settlement, the U.S. government has agreed to pay $350,000 to the family of a former Belchertown Marine who took his own life after returning from Iraq.

In a statement issued by an antiwar group, Military Families Speak Out, Kevin Lucey said, "The Government killed my son. It sent him into an illegal and reckless war and then, when he returned home, it denied him the basic health care he needed.''

The parents of an Iraq veteran who committed suicide after being turned away from a Department of Veterans Affairs facility say they've agreed to a $350,000 settlement offered by the government.

Two dozen members of Military Families Speak Out and San Diego Veterans for Peace protested Tuesday afternoon outside the base in support of Robin Long, a onetime Army private who was sentenced in August to 15 months behind bars and a dishonorable discharge.

"It's hard to explain to people the war is still going on, that our loved ones are still in terrible danger," Adele Kubein of Corvallis, a spokeswoman for Military Families Speak Out, said. "After the election, everyone assumes the troops are coming home. They don't think anyone is being maimed and killed."

On June 22, 2004, their son, 23-year-old Jeffrey Lucey, a former Marine, hung himself after returning from Iraq a year earlier. Kevin Lucey said, "If anybody even questions how lethal or how damaging PTSD can be and whether it's real we would invite them to go down to our son's grave."

MFSO and GSFSO members Kevin and Joyce Lucey tell the story of how their son, Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, USMCR, killed himself shortly after being denied treatment for PTSD at a Veterans Administration hospital. Dr. Phil and a panel of experts blast the VA's failure to provide veterans with PTSD the care they need.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher had no cookies and milk for the carolers outside his Surf City home on Thursday night. Maybe it was because the carolers, members and supporters of Military Families Speak Out, served up Christmas favorites with altered lyrics, urging Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) to bring U.S. troops back home from the Middle East.

[Sgt. Ryan Kahlor returned from Iraq ] with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. He was violent and suicidal. He carried a loaded handgun everywhere. He drank until he passed out. He cut himself. He burned his own skin with cigarettes. He bit through his tongue just to watch himself bleed. [His father,] Tim Kahlor says he and his wife, Laura, have been left with what he calls, only half in jest, "secondary PTSD." He says his doctor prescribed antidepression medication to help him cope with his son's ordeal. And both parents, haunted by their son's physical and emotional breakdown, are fiercely opposed to the war.

“I hoped a change in the administration would bring a change in the policy and keep my oldest son from being deployed next spring,” said Larry Syverson, a member of Military Families Speak Out, a group that is against the war, “That optimism diminished with the announcement that Robert Gates would continue to be the Secretary of Defense.

April Medlin, a mother of a student and the sister of a tank commander serving in Iraq, held up a picket sign that said, "Stop War Funding Now." A co-founder of a local chapter of Military Families Speak Out, Medlin drew a connection between increases in military spending and cuts in school funding. "As long as this war goes on, this (lack of school funding) is only going to get worse," she said. "The only thing we need to cut is the war budget."

Keri Wheelwright of Monterrey Drive said her 28-year-old husband, Army Capt. Shaun Wheelwright, missed last Christmas at home, Easter, her last two birthdays and the first birthday of their son, Desmond (Desi) Kai. Shaun will not be home this holiday or Christmas. He is not expected to return until late February or March at the earliest. Shaun is serving with the 25th Infantry, 2nd Brigade, 127th Battalion in Taji, Iraq, about 20 miles northwest of Bagdad. While Shaun has been overseas, Keri has been campaigning to end the U.S. military occupation of Iraq by writing letters and essays, and giving talks Her involvement in Military Families Speak Out includes appealing to President-elect Barack Obama to end the war that has claimed the lives of 4,190 U.S. troops and more than one million Iraqis.

Body of War marks Phil Donahue's debut as a documentary filmmaker. It chronicles the post-war life and times of American soldier Tomas Young, who was gravely injured in a gunfight during his first tour of duty in Iraq. Unflinching in its patriotism, Body of War insists on showing us the human costs of Iraq -- a side of the war that most of us never see. The film is a maddening indictment of our government and a stirring testament to the sacrifices made by servicemen and women in uniform.

Whether headline news or not, military families live with the reality of this war every day. As the parent of a veteran of the Iraq war, I can attest to the pain these families endure with each day that this war continues. And in addition to this, they, just like every American family, will be paying the financial costs for decades to come.

On March 27, 2003, Fernando Suárez del Solar lost his son Jesús when he stepped on a US cluster bomb while fighting in Iraq. Since then, Fernando has been traveling around the country speaking out against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. In December he traveled to Iraq with Global Exchange and a group of military families to listen to the needs and desires of the Iraqi people, and returned home to meet with Congress, UN officials and the media to call for the withdrawal of US troops. Fernando is also an active member of Military Families Speak Out (www.mfso.org).

For those who don't think that this will affect their lives personally, remember that those same soldiers suffering from PTSD will be working along side us all in the private sector. MFSO Member Keri Wheelwright writes: This is not just a military problem, it is a national problem. Obviously, PTSD needs to be de-stigmatized and those suffering de-vilified, but we also need to prevent any more of our husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and children from becoming statistics.

"As a father it is my responsibility to honor my son, to let people know how I feel about it," Carlos Arredondo, 48, of Roslindale, said as he gazed at his son's 20-year-old face staring out from poster-size photographs hanging at his booth. "That's how wonderful the democracy in this country [is] - why we are all here today."

Carlos Arredondo, now drives around the country with a decorated casket memorializing the war dead. “It’s been four years since I lost my son,” Arredondo said at yesterday’s protest. “And being here is part of my grieving. I make it very public because I want the American people to know the effects of war.”

The war in Iraq no longer makes headlines, but for military families it remains a part of our daily reality. As the sister of an Iraq War veteran and a member of Military Families Speak Out, I want to see this war ended before more of our troops die. My brother is on a 15-month deployment (and also was stop-lossed in January). He has served two tours in Iraq.

My son served one year (2005-06) in Iraq with the Alaskan Stryker Brigade. We are fortunate that he came home in one piece. Tens of thousands of men and women are still fighting in that war. I personally know seven mothers who have lost their sons.

"Brian gave three years and three weeks of his life to this country so I can come up here for a half a day." -- Gold Star Dad John Scripsick

A short documentary on Iraq veterans' struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder featuring inteviews with MFSO members Nancy Lessin and Kevin and Joyce Lucey.

[MFSO member] John Scripsick, 56, is the father of a son who died in Iraq a year ago, and that's the reason he said he was standing by the road [demonstrating outside an event where President Bush was raising money for John McCain] instead of checking on his cattle. His youngest son, Bryan Scripsick, was one of four Marines who were killed when a suicide bomber plowed into their Humvee in Anbar Province.

Mélida Arredondo writes "Meghan McCain was born in 1984 and has the opportunity to speak to the media. My stepson Alex also was born in 1984. He cannot speak to the media. Why? Because he was deployed to Iraq twice and killed on his second tour."

My son died in Iraq one year ago and it has made me study the reasons we went to war, as any parent would do looking into the loss of their child.

Warren Henthorn, of Choctaw, Kay Henthorn, of Oklahoma City and John Scripsick of Wayne, OK. consider it their patriotic responsibility to show up to ask questions of President Bush about his mishandling of the war that cost their son's lives. In desperate economic times, many people, who do not have family members or friends serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, are paying little attention to the killing and suffering that is taking place on a daily basis so far across the world.

The father of a Boston Marine killed in Iraq led thousands of antiwar protesters yesterday in a boisterous but largely peaceful demonstration outside the Republican National Convention,

Pat Alviso traveled to Denver from California to urge delegates to do what they can to keep her son from a third tour in Iraq. "We want to stop combat operations now," Alviso said. "Eighteen months makes a difference to us because our kids could be dead by then."

Code Pink, Military Families Speak Out and Amnesty International officials asked delegates to tell presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama that the pullout should begin immediately, not in 18 months.

Military Families Speak Out to the Democrats at the convention in Denver, Colorado. They demand the Democratic politicians take a stand: bring the troops home immediately and take care of them when they get home. Military Families will bring the same message to the Republican National Convention In St. Paul, Minnesota

Corvallis mother Adele Kubein, regional representative of Military Families Speak Out, which supports withdrawing troops from Iraq , says her daughter returned from Iraq in 2004 with a shattered leg and a shattered psyche. “The first time was when she called from Iraq weeping and weeping and saying, ‘Oh, mom, I can never come home. I just killed a 12-year-old boy.’ I knew from that point on she was suicidal.”

Inside the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe on Aug. 12, Republican presidential candidate John McCain held a well-attended fund-raising event where he tried to narrow the campaign cash gap between him and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. But Teaneck resident[and Military Families Speak Out member] Paula Rogovin had another number in mind: the more than 4,100 U.S. soldiers who have died so far during the war in Iraq.

MFSO Northwest Regional Representative Adele Kubein speaks about the national effort to bring home the National Guard.

New York State Senators Eric Adams of Brooklyn and William Perkins of Manhattan plan on sponsoring legislation calling for the denationalization of the New York National Guard. The proposal, backed by the groups Military Families Speak Out and Peace Action New York State, would keep all Army and Air National Guard members in New York and end their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. WAMC's Hank Gross has more.

Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan) and Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) unveiled the measure at a news conference yesterday calling on Gov. David A. Paterson to use his authority to challenge calls from the federal government to use the New York National Guard for service in Iraq. They joined Military Families Speak Out, an anti-war organization, in front of the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square. "The governor has the power to decide if our National Guard troops are to be used on a federal level," Adams said. "Our resolution will call on him to do just that."

[Military Families Speak Out member] Stacy Bannerman, an anti-war activist whose husband served with the Washington State National Guard in Iraq, says many Guard members and reservists don't get adequate treatment when — like her husband — they are diagnosed with PTSD.

Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, USMC served in the Marine Reserves during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He began showing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder within six months of his return from Iraq. fter being denied care at a Veterans Administration hospital, he took his own life on June 22, 2004. As active members of Gold Star Families Speak Out, a national chapter of Military Families Speak Out whose members' loved ones died as a result of the war, his parents, Kevin and Joyce Lucey have dedicated their lives to raising awareness about PTSD and the growing epidemic of military suicides and ending the war that created the devastating psychological wounds that claimed the life of their son. The following is their remembrance of Jeffrey on the anniversary of his death.

Mike Gianfriddo served in Iraq from September 2005 for a year, then returned to his Minnesota home. He won't talk about what he saw, except to say that once home, he felt out of place and found ordinary life hard to handle emotionally. Recently he found help in an unexpected place: the corner of International Speedway Boulevard and Nova Road during a peace demonstration where he met members of Central Florida Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out.

[Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families Speak Out members] Joyce and Kevin Lucey lost their son, Jeffrey, in 2004 when he hanged himself in their basement soon after returning from war. Kevin Lucey’s description of cradling his 23-year-old son in his arms the night before Jeffrey died in an effort to comfort him, and again the night after to uncoil the garden hose wrapped around Jeffrey’s neck, stirred the masses. “Before there is another Jeffrey, help us stop it,” Kevin Lucey said before a weeping crowd, citing a system he said failed his son when post-traumatic stress took over.

Near the edge of the Mississippi River by Jackson Square, military family members and supporters gathered for some singing and prayers in a ceremony honoring those who have served and died in combat. It's all a part of a service led by the group "Military Families Speak Out" with a membership of four thousand families nationwide.

According to family members and police reports, on Feb. 20, 2007, just a few months after being discharged from his second tour of duty in Iraq, Rand, of Jacksonville, N.C., smoked half of a cigarette as he wrote a suicide note, grabbed a gun and went to the Cumberland River Center Pavilion in Clarksville, Tenn. Just before dawn, he stared out at the park where he and his wife, Dena, had married. Then he placed the gun to his head and, at age 26, silenced his inner ghosts. "My brother was afraid to ask for help," said [Military Families Speak Out member] April Somdahl. "And when he finally did ask for help, the military let him down."

Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families Speak Out member Dante Zappala writes: "We sift through the campaign season hoping against hope that the political process as we know it will end the war. We are wrong. No political strategy will end the morass, the corruption, the burning blanket on humanity that is Iraq. Only moral courage will end the war."

Military Families Speak Out member April Somdahl writes: "The Iraq war is not going to be won by throwing our blood and money at it. Our soldiers don't want to watch their friends die anymore. The funny thing about American families is that we don't want to lose a single member. That is just not all right with us. Losing my younger brother was not worth whatever the current administration is selling."

In an excerpt from a new book by Military Families Speak Out member Jane Collins, Gold Star Families Speak Out member Gilda Carbonaro writes -- "Part of my healing is to do what I can to help the American people understand what a mistake they made, that we are responsible for the deaths of all these people. This country must come to terms with what was done in our name. I will make this my life's work if need be. This is how I will honor my son and keep his memory alive."

On Wednesday, marchers passed through the town of Mexico, home to Joseph C. Godfrey, 54, a business owner [and member of Military Families Speak Out]whose three children — a daughter and two sons — all chose to join the military. One son, Joseph, returned from a tour in Iraq in October 2004, developed a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder and was medically discharged. While his family was trying to get him counseling, Joseph began drinking heavily. He was robbed and murdered four months after his discharge as he walked home from a bar.

An extraordinary lawsuit was filed this week in the Federal District Court in Newark accusing President George W.. Bush of waging an illegal war in Iraq in violation of Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which provides that only Congress may declare war. The plaintiffs are New Jersey Peace Action, the 50-year-old anti-war group, and two members of the New Jersey Chapter of Military Families Speak Out, both of whom have sons currently or formerly deployed in Iraq.

Features the testimony of MFSO Co-Founders Charley Richardson and Nancy Lessin and of Gold Star Families Speak Out members Fernando Suarez del Solar and Carlos Arredondo.

Palula Rogovin said she was inspired the first time she read Howe's "Mother's Day Proclamation" last Monday at a Military Families Speak Out meeting. The group, part of the New Jersey chapter, serves Bergen and Passaic counties and offers support for people with children serving in Iraq and Afghanistan while trying to bring an end to the war [in Iraq].

Karen Meredith, who represents Gold Star Families Speak Out on the Board of Directors of Military Families Speak Out writes: "Speaker Pelosi, there are already too many Gold Star Mothers. Please show some of the same courage my son and his fellow troops displayed. Admit that you were wrong, and commit yourself to opposing any bill that will continue to fund this war that is killing our brave young men and women. Promise to do everything in your power to bring every mother's child home from Iraq quickly and safely, and to give all our troops the care they need when they get here. That's the best way to honor the mothers of our fallen soldiers this Mother's Day."

As they set off on their nine-day, 118-mile march, two dozen local veterans and activists carried peace flags, anti-war banners and what they hope is a small share of the burden placed on the American soldiers sent to Iraq over the past five years. "We're the 5 percent of America that's carrying the burden of the war and suffering for it," said Military Families Speak Out member Marilyn Lambert-Fisher whose son served in Iraq with the Army Reserves, ""We believe the best way to support the troops is to bring them home and take care of them when they get here."

A powerful report on the growing epidemic of military suicides and the failure of the military and the Veterans Administration's response. Features Joyce and Kevin Lucey whose son, Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey, USMC, killed himself after being denied treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Luceys are members of Gold Star Families Speak Out, a national chapter of Military Families Speak Out whose members' loved ones have died as a result of the war in Iraq.

A short film profiling MFSO member Lisa Leitz and exploring the complexities of opposing the war while being married to an active-duty Navy pilot.

The rinse and redeploy cycle that keeps sending our loved ones to fight and die in a war for oil does not honor the sacrifice of the fallen. It is an unconscionable violation of the legitimate purposes and constitutional laws governing the use of the military. Every additional deployment adds moral insult to psychic injury and bodily harm. Each day that the war continues perpetuates the blatant disregard for the bravery and commitment of our troops and reduces the cost of their lives to mere pennies.

This is the second time my grandson, Bob, has been to Iraq, but this time he is leaving behind a wife and 9-month-old child. And this time, conditions in Iraq are much, much more volatile and hostile than when he went as part of a “liberation force” in the initial invasion in March 2003. Nearly three-fourths of the American people think that we should bring our troops home, but Congress isn’t listening. The media have all but forgotten about the occupation and continue to call it a “war.” But the war ended on May 2, 2003, when our president declared “mission accomplished.”

My daughter and I struggle to make sense of what's happened to her. In addition to the fears all military families face, I've had to face the fact that Iraq and its people did nothing to us. I've had to face the realization that we were duped into the war, that my child was led to kill people who posed no threat to us.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about what it means to support the troops. Supporting the troops does not mean remaining silent in the face of tragic mistakes and deceit on the part of our civilian and military leaders. In a democracy, soldiers out of uniform and military family members are allowed to have and voice their opinions about the wisdom or folly of any particular war. Our democracy will remain healthy only if our leaders are held accountable for their mistakes.

Military Families Speak Out is challenging U.S. senators - starting with two named Obama and Clinton - to filibuster and stop President Bush's request for more money for the Iraq war and occupation, another $102 billion.

Military Families Speak Out is challenging U.S. senators - starting with two named Obama and Clinton - to filibuster and stop President Bush's request for more money for the Iraq war and occupation, another $102 billion.

Stacy Bannerman, whose husband is a National Guardsman about to start a second tour in Iraq, doesn't think reducing a tour by three months makes much difference. "The real problem is that we keep sending the same troops over and over and over to fight in a war that never should have begun."

JOE COLGAN hates the war. Michael Reagan believes war, even if unpopular, is necessary at times. Colgan likes to wear a black shirt with a yellow ribbon and the words, "Military Families Speak Out." Reagan fancies a gray T-shirt with a bald eagle and an American flag. They've teamed up to give our war-torn nation a healing gift, one grieving family at a time. Reagan draws hauntingly beautiful portraits of dead soldiers. Colgan hunts for art supplies and mails the completed works to the families.

Military Families Speak Out wants an immediate withdrawal and calls Gen. Petraeus's plan for Iraq a "pottery barn defense". "When you go to pottery barn and break something, you don't run through the store breaking everything else up, you pay for the damage and get out, that's what we need to do." Tammara Rosenleaf said.

"We have to get out now, we need to do an orderly, quick withdrawal," said Vrnda Noel, the mother of Sgt. Eli Wright, a combat medic with the Army's 10th Mountain Division, currently stationed at Fort Drum, New York.

Tim Kahlor of Military Families Speak Out, the father of a soldier badly injured in Iraq, shares his son's story and his own assessment of the Petraeus report.

El costarricense Carlos Arredondo emigró a Estados Unidos en los años 80. Casi 20 años después él ahora recorre el país para hacer campaña contra una guerra en la que perdió a su hijo Alexander. Ésta es la historia que le contó a Diana Zileri de BBC Mundo.

It’s the fifth anniversary of the beginning of this war. As a member of Military Families Speak Out, I’ve had enough. As a mother of a Marine currently serving in Iraq, I can’t bear any more.

It’s been five years since the United States began war in Iraq and seven years in Afghanistan. Yet according to a survey recently released by the Pew Research Center, more than one-quarter of the American public — 28 percent, to be exact — is unaware that nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died in Iraq over the past five years. No matter what the reason, there is a disconnect among the people of the United States and the impact of the wars our nation is waging, both here and abroad.

Como padres de un marino estadounidense quien murió durante la guerra de Irak, las actividades militares de ese país nos impactan diariamente. En agosto de 2004, Alexander Scott Arredondo murió instantáneamente cuando una bala penetró su sien izquierda. Alex tenía 20 años de edad. Sus seres queridos - incluyendo su madre, padre, madrastra, dos hermanos, una novia, sus abuelos y muchos familiares y amistades - siguen sufriendo un duelo interminable.

Joyce and Kevin Lucey are the parents of Corporal Jeffrey Lucey, who killed himself on June 22nd, 2003 after returning from a tour in Iraq. Joyce and Kevin Lucey are currently suing the Department of Veterans affairs arguing the VA was negligent in caring for their son. A VA Inspector General’s Report notes VA officials turned Jeffrey Lucey a few days before he took his own life. The Luceys are members of Gold Star Families Speak Out, a chapter of Military Families Speak Out.

In this and other wars, it's a tough job to organize against the establishment view. But somebody had to do it. "In the beginning, people were made to feel unpatriotic for opposing the war," Paula Rogovin said. "The changes in public opinion are a result of the small vigils around the country and the letters to the editor. All that plays a part."

My son's disabled now. The person they sent there is not who I got back. My husband and I talk about this, and we're scratching our heads over what it is about this war that people don't understand. We went to find weapons of mass destruction - that we knew weren't there. We went to free the Iraqi people - and five years later, they're not free, and their life is far worse now than it ever was.

Larry Syverson of Chesterfield County became a national figure after he protested in front of the federal courthouse in Richmond for years. "In the beginning, a lot of people were upset," he said. "Now it's hard to remember the last time anybody said anything negative." All four of Syverson's sons joined the military; three of them have a combined total of five tours of duty in Iraq. He said he plans to return from his winter hiatus with a new sign showing a picture of son Branden and the message, "Don't send my son back to Iraq." Syverson serves on the executive committee of the Massachusetts-based Military Families Speak Out and said membership has expanded in the past year from primarily parents to military spouses.

Wade Fulmer, an Army Vietnam vet who serves on the veterans’ care committee for Military Families Speak Out, says returning soldiers are in dire need of follow-up aftercare. “The VA is short of people. Because of multiple deployments within a five-year period, there is no time to readjust. By the time a family understands what is going on, it’s time to go back. The spouses and the children suffer anxiety and depression with the stresses they’re under because their loved one is in a war. They have to wonder, ‘What’s he going to be like when he gets back? What can we do to get help?’”

The war, in reality, is a small price to pay for this country. We, the affected, represent an incredibly limited portion of the population. Less than one percent has served in Iraq. The breadth of the sacrifice has maybe hit 10 percent of the country. What Americans must rely on is their empathy. The emotional vulnerability of our citizenry again becomes the strategic battleground. And just as distortions led us into this war, they are being used to keep us there.

The tattoo of a parachute and the word "Paratrooper" on Phoenix resident Brian Lewis' left forearm lets fellow veterans know he has been there, done that. And the former member of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division isn't saluting Army Gen. David Petraeus' long awaited report this week on the war being waged in Iraq.

"From our experience in just the four and a half years of combat in Iraq we have seen psychiatric injury manifest itself months and sometimes years after a first deployment and some of that is compounded with second, third and sometimes fourth deployments. We have no assurance that any of our loved ones are safe or sound. They will be at risk for decades to come," said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out.

By Jack Kuenzie. "For nearly two weeks, war protesters have camped near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. They've been led by a California woman who lost her son in Iraq, and wants to meet with the President. Now, a Midlands woman is planning to join the group."

With her husband Howard Schaffer’s deployment this morning, the Beaverton woman has now sent her daughter, her son and her spouse to Iraq. As a military wife, she is an expert at frenzied packing and farewell dinners, but the white-knuckled grip on her vegetable knife betrays a growing anger.

Cpl. April Ponce De Leon describes herself and her husband as “gung-ho marines,” and in two weeks she deploys to Iraq, where her husband has been fighting since March. But she says she stopped believing in the war last month after a telephone conversation with him.

My nephew is in boot camp. One month into it, I'm still having trouble getting used to the sound of those words. My brother and I tried to talk him out of it more than a year ago at a backyard gathering in the San Francisco Bay Area. It turned into a disastrous family argument that ended in tears, with my mother traumatized and my sister (the recruit's mother) terrified.

Syverson described Webb's gambit as "kind of a backdoor attempt to end the war." He said if the troops were deployed in a reasonable fashion, there wouldn't be enough soldiers in Iraq to continue. "What I would really like to see them do is have the courage to de-fund the war and bring the troops home," he said.

So, President Bush is mindful of the suffering of those of us back home who "sacrifice peace of mind" because of his war in Iraq. But if the war in Iraq bums you out, then imagine how bummed out you would be if you were Tim Kahlor, the father of Sgt. Ryan Kahlor, a 23-year-old kid who has spent more than two years in that Bush-benighted nation.

Click above to watch MFSO Members Anne Chay and Pete Richardson (father of MFSO co-founder Charley Richardson) on television in New Hampshire. The section they are in starts at about 39 minutes into the show.

Hervey said her simmering opposition to the war became full-on public advocacy for an end to the war after she learned her stepson might have to stay in Iraq to heal, and possibly return to his unit, rather than being transported to his base in Baumholder, Germany, for rehabilitation. He is being kept there now. She said her stepson both supports her activities and remains a faithful soldier.

"These are our loved ones. We're not reading about this war in the newspaper, we're not listening to it on the radio. We're living it," said Stacy Hafley, whose husband served in Iraq.

Anti-war protesters built a mock graveyard Sunday morning with thousands of white cardboard headstones in Kauffman Park next to the Soldiers Memorial in downtown St. Louis, MO.

"This is infuriating," said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out. "How in the world is Congress supporting the troops by continuing to send them to kill and die in an illegal, immoral, unwinnable quagmire?"

"Right now, we're just trying to hold the sides apart in a civil war. All the junior officers just want to get the hell out," said Bernie Reilly, of Chadds Ford, Pa., a West Point grad who was a combat engineer in Vietnam. His son, Capt. Bernard Reilly, 28, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot with the 10th Mountain and a 2001 West Point grad, just returned from Afghanistan and had previously served in Iraq. "My son doesn't necessarily disagree with me, but there's only so much he can say," said the father, now a member of Military Families Speak Out, an anti-war group.

Nancy Emery, whose brother served in Iraq, represents the organization Military Families Speak Out. "We are here to say bring the troops home. Take care of them when they get here. Make sure the VA medical centers are doing what they need to be doing to take care of our injured soldiers," she said.

Anne Roesler, with Military Families Speak Out, echoed those statements and called for bringing the troops home. She spoke of the nearly 3,200 Americans killed in Iraq and tens of thousands more who have been mentally harmed or physically injured. "How many more Marines, soldiers and loved ones are we going to let this happen to? Not one more," said Roesler, whose son is serving in Iraq. "Tell your congressional representatives you want them to defund this war. We should not spend a penny more."

Several people marched through downtown Nashville to denounce a conflict entering its fifth year. They joined others marking the fourth anniversary of the War in Iraq. Demonstrators in Nashville carried shoes representing each individual who died in the conflict. Each shoe had a tag attached, with names of Iraqis and Americans.

ON THE EVENING of Feb. 27, I boarded Delta Airlines Flight 1220 from Atlanta to Boston. It was roughly the 25th time this year that I have boarded a plane, and the process has become all too routine -- attending long business meetings, trying to get an earlier flight, dealing with security lines and crowded planes, all in hopes of getting home in time to see the kids before they fall asleep. Yet however mundane that Tuesday evening flight was for me, it was anything but for a young soldier for whom Flight 1220 was the last leg of his journey home after being killed in Iraq.

It has been nearly a year since Pamela Osborne's only child, Daniel, now 20, enlisted in the Marines, only days after graduating from high school. She respected her son's decision, given his reasons for wanting to join - the honor, discipline and dignity that comes with being a Marine, the money he would be eligible to receive for college after he completed his service.

Valengavich read an open letter to Congress from more than 200 members of Military Families Speak Out, a group made up of families of servicemen and women who were deployed, are currently deployed, or are scheduled to deploy to Iraq.

Vermont's Legislature became the first in the country Tuesday to pass a resolution calling for an immediate and orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

As a military mom and as a member of Military Families Speak Out, I needed to know where those who represent me stand on the war, and to ask them to really support our troops by taking the courageous step of voting to stop funding the war.

"This is the first time I've ever gotten publicly involved in anything," she said. "This is not my regular MO." Chay only recently signed on to speak out against the war in Iraq, and has already become one of the more vocal members of the Boston-based, anti-war group, Military Families Speak Out. Though it was once considered taboo to publicly criticize a war your own son is fighting in, Chay is not alone. More family members of soldiers than ever are speaking out against the war...

Some soldiers, ones who have put themselves on the line in Iraq, spoke out against this lunacy yesterday. It is the best they can do for now. It is their elected officials who have to do better, starting with the Democratic front-runners, Clinton and Barack. They can start by saying they will vote against further funding of this war the first chance they get. You fund this war, you own it.

Lerman is an active member of the anti-war group Military Families Speak Out. She has a son who is a Gulf War veteran, another son in the Coast Guard, and a daughter-in-law in Afghanistan. She wants more, now, than public opinion. She wants action. She wants people to call their representatives and their senators. "It's in the lap of the Democratic Congress," she says. "If they choose to continue this war, it's their war now."

Kahlor said he has had enough of the war after hearing from his son, Ryan, a sergeant in Iraq. Kahlor said Ryan has been in four Bradley tanks that were blown up by enemy fire and has seen several soldiers next to him killed. He said he is worried that Ryan, who is on his second deployment to Iraq, will run out of luck as the war escalates.

Paul Krugman is right: gambling on the Iraq war is much easier “when the lives at stake are those of other people’s children.” Except that it is my son, a 20-year-old United States marine stationed in Falluja, whose life is being gambled with.

Mary Geddry spent Tuesday writing Congress to stop funding the war in Iraq. The Coquille mother of a twice-deployed Marine says she fears that her 27-year-old son will be sent back. Military officials say it is too early to know how President Bush's plan will affect Oregon soldiers, especially those in the National Guard and reserves. But with the U.S. military already stretched, many families fear more frequent deployments and with them, more separation and traumatic stress.

You'd expect a fairly routine speech after two-and-a-half years of Wednesday evening peace demonstrations at the Teaneck Armory. But no, Paula Rogovin speaks with a full heart. Her voice cracked as she addressed her "troops," urging them to push for more accountability from local elected officials in Washington. "We've got to make them listen to us," she said earnestly, amid the honking and waving from drive-by demonstrators shouting encouragement and support. No more money should be allocated for the war, and Congress should not vote to approve spending legislation that ultimately prolongs the American military presence in Iraq.

For all her sadness, Edrey is not sitting quietly at home. She is one of more than 3,100 military families that have joined Military Families Speak Out, an organization opposed to the war. Members of the group will be in the nation's capital today and tomorrow urging the incoming Congress "to honor the fallen and prevent further deaths by taking action to end the Iraq war."

Just a few weeks ago Dearden took the dramatic step of signing a petition to Congress--what's being called by its organizers an Appeal for Redress--opposing the war in Iraq and calling for the withdrawal of US troops. When the Appeal is delivered to Capitol Hill in mid-January, all the names of its almost 1,000 uniformed endorsers will be seen by members of Congress, if they care to look.

Peace advocates and veterans groups squared off Tuesday evening over a request that the Township Council pass a resolution asking Congress for the "prompt" withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

“Where’s the comfort in being right?” she asked. “Everything we said was right. Sherwood died looking for the weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist. All the nonsense about the Al Qaeda connections and Sept. 11th. They were all lies. It was all wrong. But none of that brings Sherwood back to the table.”

The resignation of US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday was seen as a positive move to some in the US military and their families. Linda and Philip Waste joined Military Families Speak Out (MSFO) because they have five close family members currently serving in the military.

Military Families Speak Out paid tribute to veterans with a display to remind Americans that their loved ones continue to fight. The group placed more than 2,800 small flags on the National Mall for Veterans Day, each one representing an American service member killed in the war in Iraq

Back in September 2002, before heading off to their jobs, Charley Richardson and Nancy Lessin would get up at dawn and take their homemade posters to the rotary off Centre Street in Jamaica Plain. Their message: "Our Son Is a Marine. Please Don't Send Him to War for Oil."

Bay State Iraq War veterans and their kin seemed stunned but not surprised yesterday by an explosive editorial in the military press calling on President Bush to fire Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld days before midterm elections. “The fact that this editorial was ever published is a reflection of a much more widespread dissatisfaction in the rank and file,” said Andrew Sapp, 49, an Army National Guard staff sergeant from Billerica who served in Iraq from January to October 2005.

An editorial scheduled to appear on Monday in Army Times, Air Force Times, Navy Times and Marine Corps Times, calls for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld... Here is the text of the editorial, an advance copy of which we received this afternoon.

A national organization of about 3,000 people with family members or loved ones in the military has asked for a meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to speak their minds about the war in Iraq. Representatives of the group Military Families Speak Out will deliver a petition to Rumsfeld and Congress calling for an end to the “backdoor draft” and for all troops to be brought home now.

"Military Families Speak Out: Oregon" is a compilation of interviews with several Oregon military families who have members currently deployed in, returned from, injured in or killed in the Iraq war. MFSO – Oregon hopes this video will be a tool to help our Oregon neighbors understand the true cost of the war through the stories of our loved ones. For more information, see http://www.mfso-oregon.org/.

They were an Army of Three — fun-loving, young, courageous, afraid. And when the bomb went off outside Baghdad, killing New Hampshire's Jeremy Regnier, the survivors of the squad found their lives upended. What they suffer has a name — post-traumatic stress — but a label can't describe it. This is a story of a death and its descendants.

Both Jennifer Davis and Rich Moniak are part of the recently formed Alaska chapter of the group Military Families Speak Out. To them, Sgt. Nicholas Sowinski's death is another reminder that their families should have come home, Moniak said. "You breathe easier when you know it's not your son, but then you feel guilty because you know someone else is going through it," Moniak said.

But what makes this vigil different is its organizers and regulars. This vigil is the work of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO)-Bergen County and the Teaneck Peace and Justice Coalition. Paula Rogovin, an active organizer in both groups, came home from Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, last year determined to bring home American soldiers in Iraq and keep her youngest son from deploying.

The Democratic senator, who has called for a withdrawal of troops within a year, said the war "is making us less safe. There is no more denying it." He accused Kean and President Bush of "living in an alternative reality where intelligence findings don't matter, mounting casualties don't count and rhetoric about the war on terror is more important than results."

Though New Jersey's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate has been increasingly critical of the Iraq war, Tom Kean Jr. has refused to answer some basic questions about the conflict, a group of anti-war military relatives say.

Mike Perkins, whose son was in the Army and in Iraq, said, “There is no reason for this war, no justification, a lot of military contractors are getting rich while U.S. soldiers and Iraqis are paying the price.” Perkins is a member of Military Families Speak Out, a group opposed to the war and who are helping to build the Saturday protest.

"Every day, in some part of my being," Marilyn says, "I have that fear" that Kevin will be called back to Iraq. "You can't have a normal life when a loved one is in a war," Bill adds.

A 59-year-old grandmother who used to sell steel for construction and manufacturing, Hutto said she is familiar with the argument that opposing the war undermines the troops. To her, the opposite is true. "We believe it does not support the troops if you support a war that has no just cause," Hutto said.

Six family members of soldiers assigned to Alaska have called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, claiming he misled them during a trip to the state last month. The six wrote to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asking her to call for the resignation. A spokesman said she had no plans to do so.

Nancy Nygard, an MFSO member from Teaneck whose son is serving in Afghanistan, said she disagreed with the war since it began. But she agrees that people should support the troops, not the war, she said. She knows many military families who disagree with the war or have come to disagree with it, but are afraid to speak out against it for fear of being disloyal to the country or being branded unpatriotic, she said. "It's loyal to speak out," Nygard said. "It's the patriotic thing to do."

J.D. will be learning a portion of this history under a cloud of complexity. The clear part is what he'll know about his father. No one in his family will let him forget what Sherwood lived and died for. He was many things - a soldier, a Democrat, a shop steward with the Teamsters. Above all, Sherwood was a patriot. Love of family and country was his ideology and that will be his legacy.

“I think all our leaders need to be held accountable for their actions and for what they say. They are holding our husband's lives in their hands. To make decisions on misinformation, or on information that cannot be proven -- information based on theories or opinion -- is not acceptable,” said Jennifer Davis of MFSO.

About 200 people gathered in a large clearing of the Summit Town Green Saturday to protest the war in Iraq and demand that American troops stationed there be pulled out while about two dozen others gathered across the street to counter-protest, insisting the GIs must stay until the war is over.

About 35 people, carrying anti-war signs, walked down the quiet street and knocked on the congressman's door. Surfing gear and a couple of children's strollers were on the porch. A window fan was working. But no one answered.

About 35 people, carrying anti-war signs, walked down the quiet street and knocked on the congressman's door. Surfing gear and a couple of children's strollers were on the porch. A window fan was working. But no one answered. The activists from Military Families Speak Out, three of them with sons serving in Iraq, went to a nearby park.

A crowd of thousands cheered Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson for calling President Bush a "dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights violating president" whose time in office would "rank as the worst presidency our nation has ever had to endure."

"I'm amazed with the stay-the-course mentality," said Haracz, whose son Ray, 21, is serving in Afghanistan. Her husband, Jay, handed Bean 48 carnations before the congresswoman left for another engagement.

A newly formed Alaska chapter of the Military Families Speak Out group issued a statement in Fairbanks saying it would make a public call for the Bush administration to bring home the 172nd and all other U.S. troops. It quoted Jennifer Davis of Anchorage, whose husband is a member of the 172nd. "I am totally frustrated, disappointed and heart broken," she said in the statement. "Just when I thought we were going to be able to resume a `normal' life and when I thought the nightmare was over, the nightmare was extended."

Jeremiah Busby and his mom, Deborah Barquinero, are both fighting the war in Iraq. Busby, 26, does his fighting with bullets - bullets fired from a Bradley fighting vehicle, which has saved him from more than one roadside bomb attack by insurgents. Barquinero does her fighting with words - words emblazoned on placards and bumper stickers; words that come easily and passionately as she talks about the three-year-old conflict.

Jeremiah Busby and his mom, Deborah Barquinero, are both fighting the war in Iraq. Busby, 26, does his fighting with bullets - bullets fired from a Bradley fighting vehicle, which has saved him from more than one roadside bomb attack by insurgents. Barquinero does her fighting with words - words emblazoned on placards and bumper stickers; words that come easily and passionately as she talks about the three-year-old conflict.

To many people around New Jersey and elsewhere, the Iraq War is a bit of an abstraction – there are battles, troop deployments, deaths, and suicide bombings “over there”; and at home, there is a limited discussion, led by members of Congress and the mainstream punditry, of the course of action our country should take. But the discussion doesn’t have to be so limited. People all across the state and the country are working to broaden the debate, and to end the war.

It takes at least 10 minutes and a large glass of orange juice to wash down all the pills - morphine, methadone, a muscle relaxant, an antidepressant, a stool softener. Viagra for sexual dysfunction. Valium for his nerves. Four hours later, Herbert Reed will swallow another 15 mg of morphine to cut the pain clenching every part of his body. He will do it twice more before the day is done.

Gresham resident Georgia Stillwell stood near the Austin Straubel airport in Green Bay Thursday waiting for George Bush to arrive, but she was not there to welcome him. Stillwell — who was among a small group of protesters — carried a picture of her son and a sign that read “Enjoy lunch while soldiers die.”

When Congress voted to "stay the course" in Iraq on June 15, many military families were furious. "I watched the entire mock debate on C-Span for 13 hours," says Stacy Bannerman, a member of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO). "That day, I decided that if they wanted to 'stay the course,' they would have to explain their rationale to my face."

Accuweather said it felt like 97 degrees by 10 a.m. Tuesday, and it was only getting hotter. But two moms visiting Washington from Bergen County were not heeding warnings to stay inside: They were under the sun near the Capitol, arranging rows of army boots. Each pair symbolized a soldier killed in Iraq since the House reaffirmed its support for the war in June.

Linda and Phil Waste would normally spend their July traveling the country in their recreational vehicle. But this year the retired Yakima couple decided to pull off the road in Washington, D.C., where they've spent the past few days standing outside the offices of elected officials to carry a simple message: Bring the troops home — now.

For some families of soldiers in the 172nd Stryker Brigade, the July 27 announcement of the extension of their tour in Iraq was just too much. Some of them are joining the ranks of the anti-war group Military Families Speak Out. "We've had a whole group of people who have joined since the announcement," said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of the group. She was working to get an exact count at press time, and said e-mails are still coming in to the organization.

Like most dads, Tim Kahlor wants what's best for his son. To that end, the Temecula man will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to urge lawmakers and decisionmakers to bring his son, and thousands of other U.S. service members, home immediately from the war in Iraq. Kahlor is a member of Military Families Speak Out, an organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones in the military.

Like most dads, Tim Kahlor wants what's best for his son. To that end, the Temecula man will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to urge lawmakers and decisionmakers to bring his son, and thousands of other U.S. service members, home immediately from the war in Iraq. Kahlor is a member of Military Families Speak Out, an organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones in the military.

Georgia Stillwell, an anti-war activist and mother of an Iraq combat veteran from House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s home district, came to Washington this week determined to speak to the House’s highest-ranking member.

Georgia Stillwell, the mother an Iraq veteran who once took PE class from the wife of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, came to Washington this week on a mission to get an audience with the Republican congressional leader. It now looks like she will get her wish. Stillwell, an activist with the anti-war group Military Families Speak Out, said she had requested a meeting two weeks ago but was told that the Speaker could not fit her in to his schedule.

When a tiny plastic toy soldier holding a machine gun showed up on a table at the Park-Oxford Café and Deli last week, says owner Roxanne Armstrong, she no idea how it got there. Neither did her son Jason, who works behind the counter. The two-inch GI had a white label wrapped around one of its legs that read: "Bring Me Home Now!" This article features MFSO member Marilyn Lambert-Fisher whose son served with the Army Reserves in Iraq

Dinah Mason is a walking contradiction. She's a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a Vietnam veteran turned pacifist, and the mother of a soldier serving in Iraq. The Santa Barbara resident is in Washington, D.C., today to protest the military's presence in Iraq. While she's in town, she'll also attend the annual DAR convention.

A collection of voices is contributing to the Iraq debate, seeking to sway public opinion. Outside the U.S. Capitol, one of those belongs to Al Zappala, whose son Sherwood, a Pennsylvania National Guardsman, was killed in Iraq two years ago. "Bring the troops home now," said Al Zappala. "Take care of them when they get here. And never, ever again send them to a war based on lies." As Zappala stood holding army boots symbolizing the 2,500 American soldiers killed in Iraq, Republicans and Democrats engaged in rhetorical battles over Iraq policy.

Tony Blair faces an unprecedented revolt from the wives and mothers of serving soldiers, who want British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq

Six days before Memorial Day, and the wind in D.C. was unforgiving. I stood in the long, cold shadows of the 234-foot West Towers of the National Cathedral, my tie whipping in the sorrow around me. I had gone to the church to be with Gilda Carbonaro.

In the early evening of Nov. 15, 2003, Army Spec. John Robert Sullivan, 26, of Countryside, was killed along with 17 other members of the 101st Airborne Division when two Black Hawk helicopters went down over Mosul, Iraq. He died eight months after the invasion of Iraq had begun and six months after President Bush had declared "Mission accomplished" on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Eight months ago, Staff Sgt. Bryce Syverson was damaged goods, so unsteady that doctors at Walter Reed Army Medical Center wouldn't let him wear socks or a belt. Syverson, 27, had landed in the psychiatric unit at Walter Reed after a breakdown that doctors traced to his 15-month tour in Iraq as a gunner on a Bradley tank. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and was put on a suicide watch and antidepressants, according to his family.

The military told Congress that medications aren't used to keep soldiers with serious mental illness in combat. But a Courant investigation reveals that drugs are increasingly being handed out. When Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren was diagnosed with depression soon after his deployment to Iraq, a military doctor handed him a supply of the mood-altering drug Effexor.

There is not enough guilt to go around here, so intent is each woman in Jeffrey Henthorn's life on owning a piece of the blame. His sister, Shannon Austill, had found him in the living room, laughing at a CD he had brought back from his first combat tour - images of Iraqi adults and children who had been shot, dismembered, burned beyond recognition

The U.S. military is sending troops with serious psychological problems into Iraq and is keeping soldiers in combat even after superiors have been alerted to suicide warnings and other signs of mental illness, a Courant investigation has found.

Jessica White, 26, of Cromwell, is the wife of Staff Sgt. Jay White, 883rd Medical Company of the Army Reserves, currently on his second deployment to Baghdad. She is a member of Military Families Speak Out, an anti-war organization. She recently addressed a crowd of 1,500 at an anti-war rally on the lawn of the Old State House in Hartford.

Next thing, the Marines ask me if I was Carlos Arredondo. I don't understand why they asking me that, and I don't see my son anywhere. I even ask them, "Are you guys here to recruit some kids?" because I have a second son, a 16-year-old, Brian. And he said, "I'm sorry, I'm coming to notify you that Alexander Arredondo got killed in combat."

Celeste Zappala has camped out near President Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch, been yelled at and pitted against other parents who have lost loved ones in Iraq on Fox News, and harassed at antiwar demonstrations. All this while mourning the death of her son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, a Pennsylvania National Guard soldier whose memory she shares in emotional poems and journal entries she reads aloud and various photos she displays at speaking engagements.

Protesters marking the third anniversary of the Iraq war made their voices heard around the world, with the largest marches in London, Portland and Chicago

Waving signs and flags and chanting slogans, more than 500 people converged on the federal courthouse plaza in Eugene on Saturday, joining tens of thousands around the world to protest on the third anniversary of the war in Iraq.

Larry Syverson remembers the day in 2004 when he received an e-mail from his son Bryce, who had been in Baghdad with the Army for over a year. Syverson was spending several days a week protesting the war outside Richmond's federal courthouse and he was anxious. What would his son think? "Happy birthday," the e-mail read. "I'm proud of what you do. Tell those people that you run into thanks for your support."

It was a Wednesday, March 19, 2003, and talk of war filled the air. "I really felt something was going to happen," Larry Syverson recalled. He was restless and worried about the coming war, and he decided he couldn't sit silently and wait. So he went through his office in Richmond and asked for help. "Five friends joined me and we did an impromptu march around downtown and we ended up at the federal courthouse" at 10th and Main streets.

Since Pat Blumen's daughter and son-in-law were sent to Iraq in November, interminable days have passed without e-mail communications -- a vacuum Blumen has tried to fill by staying preoccupied. Rather than obsess or fixate on news reports of civil rebellions, Blumen throws her energies into keeping 32 friends, relatives and supporters up to date -- and speaking up against the war.

The last of five speakers to take the stage at an anti-war rally Saturday, Dr. Barbara Porchia had a message that was intensely personal. “I know I can’t bring my son back,” said Porchia, whose 19-year-old son, Jonathan Cheatham, died in Iraq nearly three years ago, “but I do not wish to see other families made to suffer in this manner.”

Although many people have written in opposition of the “troops home” resolution — some even threatening legal action if it were passed — seven of nine councilors felt the language of this message falls within the purview of the city’s authority.

MONTPELIER -- An Iraq war veteran and a war resister stood on the Statehouse steps Saturday in Montpelier and urged 350 Vermonters to keep pressuring the state and federal governments to end combat and bring U.S. service members home at once. "The Iraqi people are not a threat and never were. The real war is right here in the United States," said Andrew Sapp, 49, who served as a staff sergeant with the Massachusetts National Guard for nearly a year in the Middle East. "Our nation is in danger. We cannot help but to act."

MONTPELIER, Vt. --A crowd that peaked at about 300 braved temperatures in the teens Saturday to march on the Statehouse and call on state officials to demand an end to the war in Iraq. "Our Legislature in Vermont seems to think they can't question foreign policy," said Nancy Brown of Rochester, whose son Ryan served 11 months in Iraq with the Vermont National Guard. Brown, a member of the group Military Families Speak Out, added, "This isn't foreign policy. This is about our families. This is my son."

Celeste Zappala will never understand why her son died. Sgt. Sherwood Baker was killed in Baghdad in April 2004. He was the only one from his Pennsylvania Army National Guard unit who did not return from Iraq. The 30-year-old left behind a wife and a 9-year-old son. Zappala was opposed to the war from the start.

Yesterday, I had the enlightening opportunity to speak to a fellow Military Families Speak Out member, Sarah Lucas of Boston, Massachusetts, about the denial of her son’s Conscientious Objector claim and his current imprisonment at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma.

Tuesday night's Davis City Council meeting was more emotional than most, with tears spilled, hearty applause and passionate speeches on both sides of a war-resolution debate. Brought to the council before the winter break, two resolutions calling for an orderly but swift withdrawal of American troops from Iraq met with resistance from military families back in December. At Tuesday's meeting, 32 people spoke in favor of such a resolution and dozens more sat in the standing-room-only Community Chambers waving “Bring Home the Troops” signs.

Vermont - its 621,000 residents make it the second-least-populous state - has sent about 2,100 Vermont Army and Air Guard troops and about 1,700 service members to Iraq and Afghanistan over the past four years. Residents from 200 of the state's 251 towns have been called up to serve in the Iraq war. Seventeen servicemen from Vermont have died there, the most per capita of any state. That statistic is especially remarkable because Vermont is well outside the swath of states in the Midwest and South, where the Army has concentrated its recruiting efforts.

Deb Regal's son, Justin, is a U.S. Marine in Iraq. While he's fighting for his country, she's fighting to stop the war. "He understands what he does and he understands what I do," Regal, a member of Military Families Speak Out and a Pinckney schoolteacher, said Wednesday.

I sit in one of the dives on 44th Street, uncertain how to approach Sue Niederer and Celeste Zappala, afraid that their stories can be too easily turned into tears, their message lost after the Veterans’ Day march. They were put at the back of the New York parade, humiliated, with their little crowd of anti-war veterans and their memories of boys who left young wives for Iraq and came back in coffins.

An influential House Democrat who voted for the Iraq war called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, another sign of growing unease in Congress about the conflict. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, called for the United States "to immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces."

The number of U.S. soldiers' deaths in Iraq just passed 2,000. I thought this was a significant mark, but I found out via television that it was not all that significant. "That's just a number the media can hype on. There is such a minor difference between 1,990 and 2,000. Why didn't the media raise a cry before the number reached 2,000?"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. National Guard units are under-equipped and increasingly unready to help in domestic disaster relief because essential gear is left behind after service in Iraq and Afghanistan, a congressional report said on Thursday. Heavy demands on the Guard since September 11, 2001, have caused "declining readiness, weakening the Army National Guard's preparedness for future missions," the Government Accountability Office said.

WASHINGTON - Army National Guard units are short of equipment on the home front partly because they are told to leave vital equipment such as armored Humvees in Iraq for replacement troops, according to a report released Thursday.

The National Guard and Reserves are bearing a sadly disproportionate share of the burden of President Bush's disastrous war in Iraq.

Susan Tracy Panzani thought her son was playing an April Fool's joke in 2003 when he told her he was joining the Army. But it wasn't a prank and more than two years later, she's not laughing. Now a member of Military Families Speak Out, Panzani marched in a peace rally in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24, a decision inspired by both her daughter and her son. The group is calling it the largest contingent of military families ever assembled for an anti-war march in U.S. history.

Last weekend in Washington was a rollercoaster ride. On Saturday, we took the Metro into DC and met numbers of marchers-to-be, all curious as us about how many would show up and what kind of people they would be. We had flown in from Maine with other peace activists who expressed hope that we would not see each other during the march, a prayerful hope that the crowd would be large.

PRINCETON BOROUGH - More than 150 people came out yesterday to protest the Bush administration's Iraq policy, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Princeton University as a lightning rod for searing criticism.

NEW MILFORD, Pa. - Five Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing west of Baghdad on Wednesday, pushing the state's death toll past 100, the military said Friday. All five Guard members were residents of northeastern Pennsylvania and served in units of the 109th Infantry. Their deaths represent the largest loss of life from a single attack involving Pennsylvania soldiers in Iraq.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. generals running the war in Iraq presented a new assessment of the military situation in public comments and sworn testimony this week: The 149,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are increasingly part of the problem.

Everyone thought Cindy Sheehan would simply go away. Not merely from Texas, from Camp Casey, but from the public consciousness. Common wisdom had it that she was the media's "Movie of the Week," blown away only a few days prematurely by Hurricane Katrina. Even before meeting Sheehan last month, Deb Hagerman knew that wasn't true.

Hurricane Katrina blew apart President Bush's rickety arguments about how invading Iraq would make us safe. We don't know Hurricane Katrina's death toll, or how many Americans might have lived had the thousands of National Guard troops trained to help in the wake of hurricanes and floods not been protecting oil in the desert.

An Albany (Oregon) man who lost his brother in Iraq is helping to organize a peace rally next Saturday in Monteith Riverpark. The rally is scheduled for 1 to 6 p.m. Sept. 24 on the stage at the park, said Eric Blickenstaff of Albany. Speakers from Gold Star Families for Peace, Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out are scheduled to be part of the rally.

ALBANY -- In the gentle morning breeze, a half-dozen Buddhists dressed in flowing, white robes beat a meditative rhythm on small drums. Surrounding them on the lawn outside the Capitol were hundreds of white crosses and military boots, each symbolic of someone who died in the Iraq war.

Chicago on Wednesday became the nation's largest city to urge the Bush administration to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq at once. The resolution, approved 29-9, seeks an "immediate and orderly" withdrawal. The City Council has 50 aldermen.

With much of the nation's attention on Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq, a group of mothers marked the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with a rally pleading for an end to the war and calling for a renewed focus on American cities and the country's needs at home.

Americans are struggling to come to terms with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and with deaths that may ultimately number in the thousands. It is important that this near-apocalyptic disaster not eclipse the still-unfolding disaster of the war in Iraq, upon which Katrina may have an unforeseen influence.

The National Guard is stretched so thin by simultaneous assignments in Iraq and the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast that leaders in statehouses and Congress say it is time to reconsider how the force is used. Republicans and Democrats alike worry about the service's ability to balance its federal and state missions of fighting wars and responding to domestic crises.

On Sunday, people commemorating the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks should also say a prayer of thanks to Cindy Sheehan. She is the grieving mother whose son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Cindy Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville, Calif., camped outside President Bush’s Crawford, Texas, ranch during most of August while Bush was on vacation. She demanded to speak with him over the “illegal and immoral war” that took the life of her son.

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- The deployment of thousands of National Guard troops from Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq when Hurricane Katrina struck hindered those states' initial storm response, military and civilian officials said Friday.

Two weeks ago, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced that more than 2,500 members of the Minnesota National Guard were being deployed in Iraq. This is the largest overseas deployment of the state's Guard members since World War II. These soldiers will train for six months and serve in Iraq for at least one year. However, at a July 16 meeting of the National Governors Association in Des Moines, Iowa, Pawlenty stated: "Most governors would say we're putting more strain on our Guard and reserves than many people are fully comfortable with."

Military families and veterans stopped in Bloomington Tuesday with a message for the president: Bring the troops home from Iraq. "The best way we can support our troops is to bring them home now," said Mia Lorraine, whose son is an Army captain and spent a year in Iraq.

Linda Waste's voice quivered as she told the crowd on the steps of the state Capitol on Monday night about her three sons and two grandchildren who are serving in Iraq. The Hinesville, Ga., resident and her husband, Philip, were two of the participants who rode into Montgomery on Monday on the Bring Them Home Now Tour. The tour, a traveling anti-war rally, was launched last month by Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother who staged a war protest outside President Bush's ranch near Crawford, Texas.

Had Cindy Sheehan been with them, they might have needed Camp Randall Stadium. As it was, a group of eight anti-war activists aligned with Sheehan drew more than 800 people to the Barrymore Theatre Sunday night, filling it to capacity, for a Bring Them Home Now Tour.

The crosses, symbolizing American soldiers who died in Iraq, were part of an anti-war rally at the Peace & Social Justice Center, 1407 N. Topeka. Members of Iraq veterans' and military families' groups who spent time with Sheehan during her nearly monthlong vigil outside President Bush's ranch drove an RV to Wichita as part of an effort to bring the troops home from Iraq.

Even though Cindy Sheehan is likely to leave Crawford, Texas, this morning without having accomplished her goal of meeting with President Bush, there's little doubt the Vacaville resident brought renewed energy and attention to the anti-war movement through her story of grief.

Gov. Mitt Romney, who has comforted the grieving loved ones of soldiers killed in Iraq and promoted National Guard recruitment, yesterday said he has not urged his own sons to enlist - and isn't sure whether they would.

"'Cindy put a face on this movement, but the rest of us are all in that movement as well,' said Pat Vogel of Barrington, Ill., a member of Military Families Speak Out. 'Many people have turned this whole camp into a well-oiled machine.'"

"Nearly 100 people gathered in the back yard of a hilltop house in Kalihi Valley last night to light candles in sympathy for a California woman protesting her 24-year-old son's death in Iraq. 'She's just a mother among other mothers,' said Cecile Smith, 68, 'but she's a catalyst, it seems.'"

Army veteran Steve Fryburg of Bellbrook and two other Miami Valley residents will fly to Texas on Sunday to add their voices to Cindy Sheehan's protest outside President Bush's ranch.

By Amanda Lehmert, Staff Writer. "A local Marine mother will soon join a California woman's Texas standoff with President George W. Bush."

Lietta Ruger of Bay Center in southwest Washington admits she didn't know what she was getting into when her feet hit the ground in Crawford, Texas, at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

The mother of a fallen U.S. soldier who started a quiet roadside peace vigil near President Bush's ranch last weekend is drawing supporters from across the nation, including the Pacific Northwest.

"A week ago, Anne Sapp of Billerica saw Cindy Sheehan on TV, a mother waiting for a president. Yesterday, Sapp and her two daughters, Lydia, 17, and Mary, 8, joined her in Crawford, Texas."

"Linda and Phil Waste, whose three sons have served in Iraq, join a California mother who wants the president to bring the troops home."

By David Perry, Sun Staff. "A week ago, Anne Sapp of Billerica saw Cindy Sheehan on TV, a mother waiting for a president. Yesterday, Sapp and her two daughters, Lydia, 17, and Mary, 8, joined her in Crawford, Texas."

.Linda and Phil Waste, whose three sons have served in Iraq, join a California mother who wants the president to bring the troops home."

By Joe Burns. "Mimi Evans' oldest son has just returned from serving in Iraq. Her youngest son will be deployed there next month. She supports them and all the other sons and daughters in Iraq and Afghanistan. She doesn't support the war. And neither do her sons."

By Linda Ide. "During town meeting in March, 52 Vermont towns passed the 'Iraq resolution.' The resolution expressed support for Vermont's National Guard soldiers and asked the Legislature to establish an independent study group to help determine how the deployment of the National Guard in the Iraq war has affected the well-being of Vermont's soldiers, their families and their communities."

By Rachel Gallegos. "As the nation's governors began to gather in Des Moines on Friday, peace activists worked a few blocks away to show that people who have died in Iraq are more than just a number."

By Laura Washington. "The Revolutionary War first gave us the freedoms we celebrate today. Last Tuesday, in an address to the nation, 229 years later, President Bush told us another war will ensure we keep those freedoms. That's why, he said, Operation Iraqi Freedom has been 'worth it.'"

By Monica Davey. "They have met on the Internet and on cross-country road trips. But mostly they find one another at the funerals. As the number of American troops killed in Iraq has risen above 1,300, mothers of the dead have built a grim community of their own, mostly invisible to outsiders and separated by geography, but bound together by death."

By Tamara Dietrich. " Larry Syverson was protesting the Iraq war even before there was one. With three sons in the military, he had more to lose than most."

By Jason Winders. "Because on this Fourth of July weekend, perhaps we all need to realize fear, loneliness and worry for loved ones are truly non-partisan issues."

By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes, European edition. "Pentagon police on Wednesday turned away family members of troops killed in Iraq who wanted to confront Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the reasons for the war in Iraq."

By Esther Schrader - Times Staff Writer. "In soldiers like LaBranche - their bodies whole but their psyches deeply wounded - a crisis is unfolding, mental health experts say. One out of six soldiers returning from Iraq is suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress - and as more come home, that number is widely expected to grow."

By Geraldine Gorman. "A mother ponders her son's future and imagines what would happen if all members of her highly trusted profession pushed together for peace"

Autor: Tim Predmore, un soldado con la " 101st Airborne División" cerca de Mosul, Irak. "Después del 11 de Septiembre se empezó a crear el ambiente propicio para la invasión de Irak. Se hablo de “ Shock and Awe” sería una dramática operación que mostraría a los Iraquís el poder tecnológico y militar de las fuerzas armadas Inglesas y Americanas."

By James Carroll. "The war was going to make the Middle East a more peaceful place. It was going to undercut terrorism. It was going to show the evil dictators of the world that American power is not to be resisted. It was going to improve the lives of ordinary Iraqis. It was going to stabilize oil markets. The American army was going to be greeted with flowers. None of that happened."

By Tim Predmore. "But as a soldier preparing for the invasion of Iraq, the words "shock and awe" rang deeper within my psyche. These two great superpowers were about to break the very rules they demand of others. Without the consent of the United Nations, and ignoring the pleas of their own citizens, the United States and Britain invaded Iraq. "Shock and Awe"? Yes, the words correctly described the emotional impact I felt as we prepared to participate in what I believed not to be an act of justice but of hypocrisy."

"The U.S. government is investigating whether the death of a Missouri National Guardsman is related to 11 other incidents of severe pneumonia among soldiers stationed in the Middle East. The U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office confirmed Friday two teams of epidemiology experts will investigate the 12 cases, two of which were fatal. National Guard Spc. Joshua Neusche, 20, of Montreal, Mo., was one of the two troops who died. "

By Suzanne Sataline. " Even if they blocked out Fox News, stopped devouring the newspapers, and shut off the Internet, the mothers of this war would still know the toll of the desert. They would hear it in their children's voices."

by Lisa Pollak. "'Major Combat' in Iraq May Be Over, But the Dying Continues. So Does the Dread Larry Syverson Confronts Knowing His Sons are Still There"

By Louise Kennedy. "...peace activists emphasized yesterday that they saw the apparent collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime as just one step in a long and complex chain of events - a history that didn't begin with the arrival of US troops on Iraqi soil, and one that won't end when the troops come home."

By Ernesto Portillo Jr. "'If you are against the war, then how can you support the troops?' That question has been asked repeatedly since American cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs exploded in Baghdad."

By Helen O'Neill AP Special Correspondent. " In her cluttered yellow house overlooking a serene pond, Alice Copeland Brown packs her latest box of goodies for the war front - Oreo cookies, biscotti, Q-tips, goggles. Then she taps out an e-mail to her son in Iraq. 'I'm going to be arrested tomorrow,' she tells him. "

By Jessica Sabbath, Times-Dispatch Staff Writer. "'This is my son and I have to respect his choice, and he has to respect my choice.' Moss and her son discussed their views as war became more and more likely. She contends the war is unjust, and he says it's a necessity."

"Ever since September 11th, the current Administration has sought to keep us scared about really stupid stuff and stupid about really scary stuff. If we dare to criticize, we are termed unpatriotic or cowardly. As the whole course of history teaches us, these methods are very effective."

My son shipped out for Iraq in January. When he told me the Army would issue him a new weapon before boarding, I told him to hijack the plane to Sweden. But you know kids. They never listen.

By STAN GOFF. " Yesterday, when I read that US Commander-in-Chief George W. Bush, in a moment of blustering arm-chair machismo, sent a message to the 'non-existent' Iraqi guerrillas to "bring 'em on," the first image in my mind was a 20-year-old soldier in an ever-more-fragile marriage, who'd been away from home for 8 months. He participated in the initial invasion, and was told he'd be home for the 4th of July. He has a newfound familiarity with corpses, and everything he thought he knew last year is now under revision."

"Cindy Neusche said her son collapsed July 2 while in Baghdad and was transported to Germany. Doctors there told the family they believed Josh suffered from pneumonia due to fluid that had collected on his lungs. But then his liver, kidneys and muscles started to break down, his mother said."

By Michael J. Mishak. "Spurred by the death of his brother, Dante Zappala helped mobilize Britain's military families last week to speak with one voice against the Iraq war"