CRAWFORD, Texas, 19 August 2005 — As the sun dipped behind the pastures around the campsite near President Bush’s ranch, more than 200 people clutched candles and gathered silently around a flag-draped coffin.

The vigil calling for an end to the war in Iraq was among hundreds nationwide Wednesday, part of an effort spurred by Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war protest in memory of her son Casey, killed in Iraq last year.

“For the more than 1,800 who have come home this way in flag-draped coffins, each one ... was a son or a daughter, not cannon fodder to be used so recklessly,” Sheehan said. “Each one is a valuable human life that is missed so desperately.”

The organizers — liberal advocacy groups MoveOn.org, TrueMajority and Democracy for America — said tens of thousands of people had signed up for more than 1,600 vigils from coast to coast. A vigil was also held in France at Paris’ Peace Wall, a glass monument near the Eiffel Tower that says “peace” in 32 languages. Marie Evans said she attended a gathering at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City to make her opposition to the war heard.

“There was no question in my mind that we needed to make a statement in Oklahoma, which is a very conservative state,” she said, holding a sign that read, “Every day President Bush plays in Crawford our young men die.”

Demonstrators in Nashville, Tenn., carried candles, flags and banners of protest, including one that read: “Thank you for your courage Cindy.” “This is a good example of how one person can make a difference,” said Gigi Gaskins, 44, of Nashville. Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., has said she won’t leave Texas until Bush’s month-long vacation ends or he meets with her and other grieving families.

Bush has said he sympathizes with Sheehan but has made no indication he will meet with her. Two top Bush administration officials talked to Sheehan the day she started her camp, and she and other families met with Bush shortly after her son’s death and before she became a vocal opponent of the war.

Critics say Sheehan is exploiting her son’s death to promote a left-wing agenda.

Before the Crawford vigil began, Gary Qualls, of Temple, walked to the protesters’ memorial to fallen US soldiers and removed a wooden cross bearing his son’s name. Qualls said he supports the war effort even though his 20-year-old son, Louis, was killed last fall serving with the Marine Reserves.

“I don’t believe in some of the things happening here,” he said. “I find it disrespectful.” Those backing Sheehan, though, voiced their support across the country. “I’m a mother who has a 20-year-old son. I did not spend 20 years of my life raising someone to be squandered in a war,” Joan Schatzman said at a vigil in Charlottesville, Va. In Minnesota, about 1,000 protesters stood on a bridge linking Minneapolis and St. Paul. “This war has been disgraceful, with trumped-up reasons,” Sue Ann Martinson said. “There were no weapons of mass destruction and the Iraqis didn’t have anything to do with 9-11.” “If they don’t want to support it, they don’t have to support it,” Iraq war veteran Kevin Pannell, whose legs were amputated after a grenade attack last year in Baghdad, said of the war opponents. “That’s the reason I lost my legs.”