Sgt. Liam Madden said people often asked him what turned him against the war in Iraq.

"It wasn't really anything," the 22-year-old U.S. Marine from Bellows Falls said. "I went to war opposing the war and came back opposing the war. It was because of information any citizen could be aware of. It wasn't traumatic events. It was the weapons of mass destruction that were not there, the links to al-Qaeda that were never established."

Madden, who is stationed in Quantico, Va., was addressing a crowd of 70 at the Unitarian Universalist Church. A veteran of the war in Iraq, Madden helped organize a petition of service members calling for the war's end.

The petition is called "An Appeal for Redress" and can be found at www.appealforredress.org. It reads:

"As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home."

"We wrote this in a moderate, respectful tone," Madden said. "It wasn't radical. We weren't trying to be overly pacifist, conscientious objectors, or bitter."

Madden said 700 people have signed since the petition began in late October.

"For a month, that's pretty good," he said. "I'm happy about that. … The response has been pretty informal so far. The appeals will be delivered, in unison, on the day the new Congress convenes."

Madden's speech accompanied a showing of the film "Sir! No Sir!" a documentary on military resistance to the war in Vietnam, which ranged from soldiers refusing to be deployed and deserting to publishing underground antiwar newspapers to murdering their officers.

In the crowd was Dennis Morrisseau, who, in the late 1960s, was court-martialed for protesting the war in uniform outside the White House.

"We beat the court-martial and we beat it on the First Amendment grounds which give you more protection than you realize," Morrisseau told Madden. "You have the right to speak any time in a civilian setting and say anything you damn well please."

Madden said he and a group of friends joined the Marines straight out of high school when he was 18 years old.

"I knew I wasn't really ready to make the most of my life," he said. "I thought the Marine Corps was going to be a great opportunity to learn to be a little more mature."

Madden said he also had a certain naivety about the U.S. and its place in the world.

"America, I thought, was the knight in shining armor," he said. "Ignorance is our enemy and I was pretty ignorant. We are good guys, but we're not seen as good guys and there's a reason for that."

Returning to the U.S. after his tour in Iraq, Madden said he found there were restrictions on how he could express his opposition to the war. This led him and like-minded soldiers to begin the appeal.

Madden said he did not fear repercussions for his activities, partly because he gets out of the military in two months and had achieved the highest rank possible during his time in service.

"I think my career, if I chose to stay, would be pretty stunted," he said. "At the same time, I don't think everyone in my chain of command is out to get me. There are six colonels who have signed the appeal for redress. They've respected my right to voice my opinion, so give credit where credit is due."

There are also restrictions on how he can get other service people to sign the appeal.

"We can't be in any sort of protest on base, in uniform or on duty," he said. "We can't use any military resources in any subversive way. If I have one appeal, that's my personal property. If I have two or three, that's intent to distribute."

While he can refer someone to a Web site, Madden said he has found it is more effective to have an appeal on his person and to get a prospective supporter to sign it. All along the way, Madden said he has been careful to follow regulations.

"I am staying within the bounds of the law," he said. "It's better for everyone to stay legal."

Madden said he senses there is broad support throughout the military for the appeal.

"It's not a question of 'does the military feel this way,'" he said. "It's a question of do they know someone making the first steps. It's kind of taboo and nobody wants their time in the military to be oppressive."

Madden said there were a number of things people could do to help the effort, starting with telling people serving in the military about the petition.

"Word of mouth is more powerful than you think," he said. "We all know someone who knows someone in the military."

"I think it's important we keep events like this going," he said. "Appeal for Redress started on a night like tonight. I went to a YMCA in Norfolk, Virginia. Numbers were exchanged, I stayed in touch with people and something evolved from that."

He also urged those against the war to pressure their representatives in Congress. He said he believed it was the duty of the new Congress to open an investigation into the start of the war.

"We need to hold the people responsible for the past responsible, or we're condoning it," he said, causing the room to erupt into applause. "These investigations don't need to be witch hunts. We don't need to be tearing down the gates of the White House and throwing people in jail. We need to pull strings and see where they'll go — and they'll go places."

Madden also urged those in the audience to continue patiently reaching out to those who support the war.

"We need to go to people openly, not condescendingly saying 'Why do you support the war? Why do you not see it the way I see it?'" he said "Eventually, when the person hears it 30 or 40 times, it'll sink in."

Finally, Madden said he expected bringing an end to the war would take effort.

"Women can vote because people struggled for it," he said. "We have an eight-hour workday because people struggled for it. Democracy is not something that happens just on a Tuesday in November every two years. Hold politicians' feet to the fire. You elect them — expect something from them."

Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.