BLOOMINGTON - The Iraq War is draining America's financial resources and wasting lives, protestors said Saturday during a rally sponsored by the Bloomington-Normal Citizens for Peace and Justice to mark the fifth anniversary of the war.

About 70 people, including elementary school children who sat on a blanket during the rally, marched through downtown Bloomington before offering remarks at a rally outside the McLean County Museum of History, 200 N. Main St.

Their message, posted on handmade signs and offered in remarks, was clear: The war needs to end.

Tonya Austin, a member of Veterans for Peace and Iraqi Veterans Against the War, said she served in the U.S. Army but opposes the conflict in Iraq.

"We need to support the troops by bringing them home now," said Austin.

Issam Nassar of Bloomington recently returned from Jordan. The history professor at Illinois State University told the crowd about the war's consequences.

"I saw a large number of Iraqis. There are 4 million now who are refugees. No one knows the exact number of Iraqi victims of the war," said Nassar.

About a million Iraqis are thought to have died so far, said Nassar. "Bring the troops home. That's the best way to achieve peace in the Middle East," he said.

University High School students Lily Cicerchia and Zach Parton also voiced their opposition to the war.

"We need to set the example for democracy. We don't want war. We don't want suffering," said Cicerchia, a junior.

Parton echoed the group's sentiment that the war benefits corporations who provide supplies and security.

"We need to be showing this government that we're not going to allow it to destroy an environment for their corporate gains," said Parton.

The march and rally were conducted under the slogan, "Five Years Too Many." The local event was part of a nationwide protest.

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Casualties of war

Following are Pantagraph-area soldiers who have been killed in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East since the war started five years ago. For more information on the number of casualties in Iraq, visit http://icasualties.org.

Aug. 12, 2007: Army Spec. Justin Penrod, 24, a Danville native who later lived in Mahomet, killed in Baghdad of wounds from an explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Ga.

May 26, 2007: Army Cpl. Francis "Frank" M. Trussel Jr., 21, died in Tahrir, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his position. He was a tank operator with a unit based at Fort Hood, Texas.

May 13, 2006: Army Spc. Ronald W. Gebur, 23, of Delavan died of injuries suffered in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Gebur was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

March 15, 2007: Marine Lance Cpl. Raymond Holzhauer, 19, of Dwight, died from non-combat injuries in the armory of the 2nd Maintenance Battalion of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group in Al Anbar province in Iraq.

Oct. 28, 2005: Army 1st Lt. Debra A. Banaszak, 35, of Bloomington killed at Camp Victory, Kuwait from noncombat injuries. Banaszak was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1035th Maintenance Company, Jefferson Barracks, Mo.

Feb. 24, 2005: Army Staff Sgt. Daniel G. Gresham, 23, of Lincoln, died at Camp Wilson, Iraq, when a second improvised explosive device detonated while he was responding to a first device. Gresham was assigned to the 797th Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 79th Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Jan. 27, 2005: Marine Cpl. Jonathan S. Beatty, 22, of Streator died as a result of hostile action in Babil Province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Jan. 26, 2005: Marine Cpl. Nathaniel Moore, 21, Champaign, was killed in a crash near Rutbah, Iraq, located about 220 miles west of Baghdad.

Oct. 6, 2004: Army Spc. Jessica L. Cawvey, 21, of Mahomet was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near her convoy vehicle. Cawvey was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1544th Transportation Company, Paris, Ill.

May 23, 2004: Army Spc. Jeremy L. Ridlen, 23, of Maroa, in East Fallujah from small-arms fire after a dump truck on the side of the road was detonated while his military convoy passed. Ridlen was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1544th Transportation Company, Paris, Ill. and was a student at Illinois State Univesity before being activated.

March 21, 2003: Marine Capt. Ryan Beaupre, 30, a St. Anne native who worked at State Farm Insurance Cos. in Bloomington for 15 months after graduating in 1995 from Illinois Wesleyan University, died in a helicopter crash in Kuwait.

SOURCES: http://icasualties.org; Pantagraph archives