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HUNTINGTON BEACH - Approximately 300 Orange and Los Angeles County residents, including members of the Cal State Long Beach community, gathered in a silent protest against the war in Iraq at Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street in Huntington Beach on Saturday.
Organized by Orange County Peace Coalition (OCPC), the silent march - called How Many More? Resist, Resist the War - had participants slowly walking in a single-file line.
"This year's march is very unique," said Thu-Trang Tran, a UC San Diego alumna and the protest coordinator for OCPC.
"Peace for our troops is a silent one," Tran said. "We had a solemn march and we emphasize community, but there has to be peace in the individual in order to have peace in the world."
After marching down to Olive Avenue and back, protesters gathered near the beach, where many organizations had informational booths and a children's choir performed. Speakers included Sean McAllister, a Marine veteran of the war in Iraq, and Agustin Aguayo, a "conscientious objector to the war in Iraq," who addressed the crowd.
"I'm a Marine and I want all the Marines to come home," said McAllister, who spent seven months in Iraq in 2004.
"You need to listen, because if you have not been there then you have no idea what's going on ... this war isn't all bad, there are some good things happening," McAllister said. "It's about helping the Iraqis. Their lives are so torn up right now ... so please pay attention, wake your friends up ... let the troops know you support them."
Aguayo spent almost seven months in jail after going absent without official leave (AWOL) before his second deployment to Iraq as an Army medic.
"We come back and we feel lucky," Aguayo said. "I have my limbs. I have my family, but still, it's hard to function. I'm glad you're here and you do want change."
Many CSULB students and faculty attending the protest supported the idea of bringing the troops home.
"I'm sick of seeing my students sent off to die," said Hilarie Kelly, an anthropology lecturer. "I can't support policies based on lies."
Kelly noted that every year more and more people come out to these demonstrations.
"Every time we do it we make a statement," Kelly said.
"I could've gone to L.A., but there's people here in Huntington Beach that need to get out of their bubble," said Jen French, a sophomore creative writing major.
"Having it here is important so they can see that we are standing up and fighting against it," said Nicoal Sheen, a sophomore political science major.
Other Huntington Beach locals agreed. While drinking a beer at a bar window, Joe Ford, 65, responded to other bar customers' spitting remarks to the silent marchers walking by.
"I think everybody's got their right to demonstrate," Ford said. "They're not throwing their opinions down our throat. Don't go to war unless you intend to win ... there was no planning."
Some people sitting along Main Street on Saturday clashed with protestors because they wore black bandanas.
"I respect their right to protest," said an off-duty sergeant for LAPD who wished to remain anonymous. "But when there's people from 'black bloc' ... those guys are out there to cause trouble ... Orange County Peace Coalition should not have them affiliated with their peaceful protest."
Sheen, who was wearing a black bandana and black clothes like those with black bloc, disagreed.
"They just don't understand the concept that we're all one," Sheen said. "It's for protection and brings solidarity."
Other bystanders disagreed with the protest, "My dad is in the Army and he's fighting for our country ... it's what he's proud of," said Trevor Elswick, a Cal Poly student.
The amount of dead U.S. soldiers has reached 3,987, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.
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