"At least 200 Charlottesville area residents sang, stood and lit candles for peace Wednesday at a vigil in support of ending the war in Iraq.

The gathering included veterans and parents of soldiers who said President Bush should meet again with Cindy Sheehan, a California woman camping near the president’s Crawford, Texas, ranch in a bid to question him about the death in Iraq of her son, Casey, 24.

Shawn Gregory, a medic in Iraq for 15 months until July of last year, said Bush “definitely” should meet with Sheehan, and then “I think he should quit vacationing and be where he’s needed in Washington.”

Gregory, 32, said he spent nine years in the Army but decided to leave the 1st Armored Division after his last tour “because with the current administration, I did not want to stay in for 20.”

“I got to see some of the gruesome stuff” in Baghdad as a medic, he said. His wife, Nina, agreed that Bush should meet with Sheehan and added, “I don’t see why we have to attack a nation of poor people.”

Many in the crowd at the intersection of McIntire Road and Preston Avenue said Wednesday’s vigil was hastily organized in about 12 hours through e-mail, phone calls and a few Web sites.

The Rev. Bruce Wollenberg of St. Mark Lutheran Church said he doubted Bush would agree to meet the mothers of slain soldiers camping about a mile from his ranch. Even if he did agree to meet with them, “I don’t think it would accomplish a lot for the anti-war effort,” he said.

The meeting would be smart for Bush because he could “at least appear to be resonating with her concerns,” Wollenberg said.

Maggie Allen Morris of Albemarle County carried a sign that read “Build Peace.” She also doubted that Bush would agree to a second meeting with the California woman, who met with him last year, shortly after her son’s death. Sheehan has since said Bush lied to the American people about reasons for the war and should be impeached.

“I don’t think he’s good at listening,” Morris said. “There just seems to be no end in sight” to the war, she added.

Cass Cannon of Albemarle wore a peace sticker brought to the vigil by Kathy Troyer of Earlysville, who downloaded a sheet of “Moms for Peace” stickers from a Web site. Both women said they were moved by Sheehan’s stand and believe that women should have more say in determining the nation’s policies on war and peace.

Joan Schatzman of Charlottesville agreed. “I’m a mother who has a 20-year-old son,” she said. “I did not spend 20 years of my life raising someone to be squandered in a war.” She said her son, Jack, is a carpenter who also opposes the war in Iraq but was probably playing pool a few blocks away on the Downtown Mall.

Parthy Monagan, a distant relative of Bush’s, said the president should meet and speak with Sheehan. By doing so, the anti-war figure’s questions and views would be “a much bigger issue,” she said.

Freeman Allan of Crozet wore a “Vietnam veterans against the war” hat to the vigil and said America “is in a real quandary.”

“We’ve gotten so divided,” Allan said. “We are not talking about our commonalities any more.”" (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, August 18, 2005)

Contact Bob Gibson at (434) 978-7243 or bgibson@dailyprogress.com.