Peace groups and others in Minnesota will join others around the world in marking today's fifth anniversary of the Iraq War.
One of the most visible observances will be on the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue Bridge, which connects Minneapolis and St. Paul. A vigil starts there at 5 p.m. Afterward, a pot luck dinner with speakers is scheduled for the nearby Macalester Plymouth United Church.
Elsewhere in Minnesota:
• In St. Paul, A ceremony will be held at noon in the State Capitol rotunda. The names of the nearly 4,000 U.S. troops killed in the war will be read.
The ceremony will feature former DFL state Sen. Becky Lourey, whose son Matthew was killed in an Army helicopter crash in Iraq in 2005. • In Mankato, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., listens to Minnesota National Guard members and Iraq veterans discuss the war. The event, at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Centennial Student Union starts at 11 a.m.
• In Virginia, a candlelight vigil is scheduled at Hwy. 53 and 12th Avenue S., at 6:30 p.m.
• In Eden Prairie, a candlelight vigil starts at 7:30 p.m. at Singletree Lane and Flying Cloud Drive, just west of the Eden Prairie Center shopping mall.
--PAUL WALSH
