About 300 Chicago-area peace activists held a vigil Wednesday in downtown Evanston, commemorating the soldiers who died in Iraq and urging the government to bring the living ones home.

Crowding into Fountain Square off Davis Street and Orrington Avenue on a chilly evening, the demonstrators held candles and signs as they listened to speakers protesting the war.

Activists began the rally by reading the names and causes of death of U.S. casualties and Iraqi war victims. Later in the evening, Kate Walsh, a member of Military Families Speak Out, told the crowd that her grandson joined the Army to boost his self-esteem. Now, she said, he’s stuck “in the living hell of Baghdad.”

The North Shore Anti-War Coalition organized the event, timed to occur the day after the Pentagon announced that 2,000 soldiers had died in Iraq. The student group Northwestern Opposing War and Racism is a member of the coalition.

About 20 NU students attended the rally.

“We didn’t know until yesterday it would be tonight,” said McCormick junior Kyle Schafer, a member of NOWAR. “We have a few groups (of students) who came out on short notice. That’s kind of hard with exams this week.”

Communication sophomore Kathleen Arcovio said she came to the rally to honor the dead soldiers. She was also worried about her 16-year-old brother.

“My younger brother could be out there in a few years, and that’s the most terrifying thing,” Arcovio said. “I want to pay respect to other people’s brothers.”

Protesters’ signs said “Let the dead teach the living” and asked “How many more?” A large sign facing Orrington Avenue told passing motorists “Make Levees, Not War.”

For Tiffany Richardson, 13, an eighth-grader at Nichols Middle School in Evanston, the demonstration was a chance to protest a war that could have a big effect on her future.

“It’s an important thing in the world right now,” Richardson said. “We should have an input in what’s happening.”

Weinberg junior Brad Hirn said the large turnout was indicative of how the anti-war movement has gone mainstream.

“People are starting to see it as a duty to resist,” Hirn said. “You no larger have to call yourself an activist. It’s a responsibility.”

Reach Greg Hafkin at [email protected].