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Last updated 10:37 pm CT February 08, 2010.
Anti-War Protest at SIU
CARBONDALE--
Anti-war protests are being held nationwide to mark the four-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, including one held Tuesday on the SIU campus in Carbondale.
Around 75 students and faculty walked out of their classrooms just before noon.
They came out to participate in an event organized by the Students for Peace and Democracy and the Student Environmental Center. It was a day of action against the war in Iraq.
"We have a rising military budget that does not acknowledge we have basic needs domestically that need to be met" says organizer and SIU junior Kandace Vallejo.
Protesters began the rally with speeches, before taking their demonstration on the road, and marching in front of the Army Recruitment office in downtown Carbondale.
"I think there's a lot of people who don't have the ability to be here because they are in Iraq fighting so I want to be there to fight for them" says senior Katie Lenza.
Among the protestors was Dave Adams-- a junior and an Iraq war veteran.
"It's really a realization to go through that and decide, okay this was wrong" he says.
Adams says that realization came after he picked up the phone one afternoon.
"The moment that I knew our sacrifices were for not was when I got the phone call my Sgt. and commander had died. My Sgt. was someone I loved dearly" he says with tears in his eyes.
Adams and other protestors are calling for an immediate withdrawal of U-S troops from Iraq. Many also want action taken at the university.
"We are here and we are not in support of this war and we want recruiters off our campus" says Vallejo.
Students at St. Louis University also protested the war today by lying down in silence on campus. About 100 peace groups will also protest in Chicago tonight.
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