ESCONDIDO - Nearly 40 years since she last took part in a protest, 60-year-old Darnell Bayer took to the streets once again on Tuesday evening, this time calling for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq.

"I keep hoping it will stop, and it just doesn't," Bayer said, reflecting on her anti-war actions during the Vietnam War as she joined several dozen people gathered at the corners at Broadway and Valley Parkway. "I'm just fed up with the whole system."

Bayer, her daughter, Danya Griffiths, and the other sign- and candle-holding protesters were greeted nearly unanimously by passers-by, most of whom honked their car horns in support or flashed thumbs-up signals.

The gathering was part of a nationwide "Take a Stand Day" organized by several anti-war groups, including MoveOn.org and Americans Against Escalation in Iraq. In North County, similar vigils took place in Vista, San Marcos, and Rancho Bernardo.

Among those in Escondido was 89-year-old Davis Bell, a World War II veteran who saw action throughout the South Pacific as a Marine Corps sergeant. Like his service then, Bell said, he took part "for his country."

"We shouldn't be in this war - it's bad for the country," he said.

Bell wasn't the only octogenarian at the gathering. He was joined by 89-year-old Hyman Rotkel, a member of the liberal group North County Forum.

"We need to get out of a war that is hurting Americans and the Iraqis," he said, adding that he senses what most national polls indicate - a majority of the country now wants to see the U.S. reduce or end its involvement in Iraq.

Organizer Mary Glass said the support expressed by motorists driving by underscored the polls.

"It's a reflection of the larger feeling among most Americans now who are overwhelmingly against this war," she said. "The people here tonight support the troops by wanting them to come home."

The hourlong event took place without any confrontations. The signs held by many participants reflected some of the latest twists in the Iraq war, such as one that read "Purge the Surge" in reference to this year's troop escalation.

Opposing war in a military area flanked by Camp Pendleton in Oceanside and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego as well as living among many retired service members is never easy, said 40-year-old Ed Kohout of Escondido.

"Showing up for these things is important," he said. "The military is a necessary part of government, but misuse of the military is what has gone on and is what we are protesting."

Through Tuesday, 338 locally based Marines have been killed in Iraq with thousands more wounded. One of the first local residents to be killed was Lance Cpl. Jesus Suarez del Solar, which led to his father, Fernando Suarez del Solar, becoming an internationally known Latino voice against the war.

He was at Tuesday's gathering, holding the same sign he has for nearly four years now - "Bush Lied, My Son Died."

On March 27 of next year, the fifth anniversary of his son's death just days after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Suarez del Solar said, he will begin a peace walk along the entire border with Mexico.

While the anti-war groups continue to say they will put pressure on lawmakers who support the Bush administration policy in Iraq, the conservative, pro-military group Move America Forward is conducting its own rally next month.

That effort comes on the eve of a mid-September report from the American commander in charge of U.S. forces in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus, who will provide his assessment in briefings with Congress and administration officials.

Move America Forward begins its caravan in support of the troops and the administration position on Monday in Northern California with a stop in San Diego scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at Balboa Park. The caravan ends in Washington on Sept. 15.

At Tuesday's event in Escondido, one man in an oversized pickup truck expressed what could sum up the position of the Move America Forward group, honking his horn and shouting out, "Give War a Chance."

- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.