CLEARLAKE – The fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was marked Wednesday night by a vigil in front of Wal-Mart in Clearlake.

Approximately 50 people, including members of Lake County Peace Action and other community members, gathered with signs, candles, and American flags to commemorate the losses the war has caused, and to express hope for peace in the foreseeable future.

A few in attendance remembered standing in the same location in March 2003, when only three or four would stand in what was at the time lonely opposition to the war. They recalled hearing a lot of discouraging and hostile comments in those days, in contrast to the largely supportive responses from passersby now.

But they also expressed sadness that after such a long time the war continues to drag on. “Faith and hope” are the keys, said one woman holding a sign that read “Health Care, not Warfare.”

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