People from all parts of the Ames community gathered Thursday to honor the more than 1,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.

“We’re here for education and awareness,” said Brant Kassel, sophomore in philosophy and a member of Time for Peace, a student organization that advocates peaceful solutions to world problems.

“1,000 people are a lot of lives — we’ve got to pay tribute to them. I hope people will reflect on the loss of life.”

The vigil was held on the sidewalk in front of Rep. Tom Latham’s, R-Iowa, office, 213 Duff Ave.

About 30 demonstrators quietly held up signs encouraging nearby cars to remember the soldiers.

The vigil was not intended to debate politics, said Jo Etzel, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering.

“Obviously a lot of us have political views, but we don’t want to focus on that for this event,” Etzel said.

“This is in honor of the people who have died.”

Etzel helped arrange the vigil after reading about plans for other vigils on the Military Families Speak Out Web site at mfso.org and other Web sites such as MoveOn.org.

She said she contacted Time For Peace and others who she thought may be interested in attending.

“The Web site suggested appropriate locations, including congressional offices,” Etzel said. “Also, Duff gets a lot of traffic and we’re not in anyone’s way.”

Vigil attendees included ISU students and Ames residents holding signs and U.S. flags. Most people driving by the vigil responded only by looking at the gathering. A few people honked their horns and waved, while a few others shook their heads, said Beth Sermet of Ames.

“I’m here for awareness of what the government and administration want us to think about [the war in Iraq],” Sermet said. “They’re putting a spin on it, making it sound fuzzy and good while families are losing loved ones. When is enough enough?”

According to MoveOn.org, approximately 1,000 vigils were held around the country Thursday to honor U.S. soldiers and reflect on their deaths.

The date the was vigil was held was not significant in itself, Etzel said, but it was selected only because organizers wanted to hold the vigils as soon as possible after the Tuesday announcement of the 1,000th military death.