Thousands Protest Bush Policy

The Sinderbrands were opposed to involvement in Iraq from the beginning, they said, and attended a 2003 protest here. Yesterday, the couple rode down on the train and planned to return home in the evening.

"We're doing it with the hope that it's going to be the last time we need to protest this," said Laura Sinderbrand, a retired museum director.

Kim Brenegar, 46, of the Capitol Hill neighborhood attended with her son Julian, 12.

"Of late, I've become very numb to the front-page reporting of deaths," she said. "And that's kind of problem for me. We've all become so used to it, it's the norm. I hope today's event will wake up a lot of people and demonstrate that this doesn't have to go on, we can stop this."

Julian added: "I don't like the war. I just think it's so stupid that we're there and it's pointless."

As the events went on, Johnny "Satchmo" T., of Northeast Washington, sat on a plastic bucket at Seventh Street and Constitution Avenue -- his regular spot -- and played a haunting version of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" on his bent trumpet.

"They're lucky that they can do stuff" like that, he said of the protesters. "Some countries don't even let people do stuff like that."

Staff writers Ruben Castenada, Megan Greenwell, Michael Laris, Sue Anne Pressley Montes, Katherine Shaver and Rick Weiss and staff researcher Karl Evanzz contributed to this report.