12:12 PM PDT on Friday, August 19, 2005

By kgw.com and AP Staff

KGW

Michelle DeFord (left) and Lynn Bradach.

Two Oregon mothers grieving the loss of their soldier sons joined a vigil outside President Bush’s Crawford, Texas, ranch Wednesday night to rally against the war in Iraq, while hundreds of others participated in candlelight vigils in Oregon and SW Washington as part of a national effort in support of the Crawford protest.

Lynn Bradach, of Portland, and Michelle DeFord, of Salem, have something very sad in common: They both lost their sons during battles in Iraq. The pair took a flight from Portland to Texas together Wednesday, arriving in Crawford a couple hours before about 100 demonstrators lit candles at a growing protest camp, about a mile from the Bush ranch.

The Oregon women joined protest organizer Cindy Sheehan of California, who lost her 24-year-old son in Iraq last year. Sheehan is camping along the winding, two-lane road that leads to Bush's ranch, hoping to lure out the president for a discussion on the war.

Sheehan began her protest camp on Aug. 6 and has vowed to remain at Bush's ranch until he meets with her and other grieving families.

AP

Anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan hugs a supporter at her roadside protest.

DeFord and Bradach expect to stay in Texas with Sheehan until sometime next week.

It was two years, one month and five days ago that Marine Corporal Travis Bradach Nall was carried home from battle. Deford’s son, David, was killed in Iraq almost one year ago, and together, these two mothers have become part of a united voice against the war.

“I don’t want to see another mother lose what I’ve lost,” DeFord said. “We're not just a bunch of crazy leftwing crackpots. We’re just moms and I truly believe this war was created from lies and it's wrong, just simply wrong.”

Both Oregonians believe their sons would root them on. Despite the fact that their sons volunteered to go to war, Bradach and DeFord said they don’t believe their sons wanted a war like this.

"There are a lot of mothers out there who still believe if they don't agree with the war that their child has died in vain and it was a useless death, and that's so not true," Bradach said.

Meanwhile, more than 1,600 vigils were held Wednesday night across the nation at the urging of Sheehan, who has become the icon of the anti-war movement.

AP photo

A candle burns while Bryan Ortega, 21, left, and Edher Estrada, 19, look on during a candle light vigil showing support for Cindy Sheehan in Portland.

Here in the Portland and Vancouver metro area, vigils were organized in 19 locations.

About 600 people with candles lined one of the city's trendiest streets for shopping, displaying signs that said "Portland stands with Cindy."

"I have never gone to a vigil before," said Tracy Dudgeon, 36, of Portland as she stood along NW 23rd Ave. "But Cindy Sheehan went out on a limb. She left her home; she's struggling with the loss of her son. That's a huge sacrifice. She's asking for one hour of his time. It doesn't seem like that much."

Further down the street, Kenny Jones of Portland stood with his 6-year-old daughter, Scouten.

"I was raised to believe that war is no solution," he said. "Her mother and I are raising her that way, too. This war is illogical."

In Corvallis, more than 200 attended the vigil. Jeanene Louden and her husband, Jim Folts, face the daily anxiety of having a son serving in Iraq.

(KGW reporter Dave Northfield contributed to this report.)