"I hate war, and I hate Bush," the 9-year-old said. Henry was a participant in the Aug. 17 twilight vigil in support of Cindy Sheehan. Sheehan is the California woman whose son was killed in Iraq and who has been protesting outside President George W. Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch since Aug. 6.

"He doesn't know the first rule: you don't kill," Henry said.

Henry, his sister and their family were among more than 160 people from Sunnyvale, Mountain View and neighboring cities who turned up at the Sunnyvale Community Center to wave signs, sing and speak out against war and the current administration.

Some 1,625 similar gatherings--organized by MoveOn.org, the political action group that fought against Bush's reelection in 2004--took place around the country.

The Sunnyvale vigil was spearheaded by Karen Rivers, a member of Mountain View Voices for Peace. In between chants and cheers, Rivers ran around the sidewalk, passing out candles, lyric sheets and other fliers.

"It's to show support for Cindy and bring people together to put some pressure on Bush and the administration to meet with her," Rivers said.

Sheehan has been hoping to meet with Bush to talk about what her son Casey died for while fighting in Iraq. She met with Bush once before but says that the commander-in-chief did not know her son's name at the time.

Sheehan left her campsite outside of Bush's ranch last week to be with her mother who suddenly took ill.

Many of the residents at the Sunnyvale vigil were parents themselves. Some carried signs reading "Hell no, my son won't go" and "Why kill our kids?"

"Someone has got to stop Bush, I mean, why aren't Jenna [Bush] and Barbara [Bush] over there?" asked 23-year Sunnyvale resident Andrea Alexander.

Most of the children at the vigil were years too young to serve in the armed forces. Some were too young even to remember the first time the United States entered Iraq.

Even though they were among the youngest at the gathering, Henry, his sister Gigi, 11, and their friend Shelby Willis, 10, were the loudest on the street, shouting for passing cars to "Honk to stop the war!" and muttering "Republicans" whenever cars passed by silently.

"I'm here because I don't like the thought of war. War is crazy because they're killing innocent people, they're trying to get the terrorists, but they're killing innocent people," Shelby said.