WASHINGTON – Twelve buses filled with students, veterans and parents from Maine braved overnight bus rides and subfreezing temperatures to join tens of thousands here Saturday protesting a potential war with Iraq.

One Mainer from the Bangor area brought a huge drum on wheels that could be heard halfway down the National Mall. Some protesters from the state brought their children, and others brought banners and signs, including one which read: “Not in Maine’s name.”

The buses departed Friday night from Bangor, Rockport and Portland carrying about 600 Mainers. Some, like Tony Aman, an insurance agent from Augusta, were seasoned protesters returning to activism 30 years after they spoke out against Vietnam.

“This is probably our last chance to stop the war, and it’s better to stop it now than after it starts,” Aman said.

Many other people were marching for the first time, drawn to Washington by the urgency of possible military action against Iraq and the desire to be around others who believe any action would be unjust.

“I wanted to do something instead of just complaining every night at supper. I wanted to show my son we could do something,” said Bruce Pyburn of Porter.

Pyburn brought his 12-year-old son, Jeremy, and despite the cold and having had little sleep on the bus, both seemed excited as they listened to the scheduled speakers at the rally.

Jo Josephson, a resident of Temple and a member of Women in Black, an international movement of women against violence, said she has been participating in weekly peace vigils in Farmington over the past year.

Women in Black began with women in Israel and now has chapters worldwide, 15 of them in Maine, Josephson said.

“I’ve always been a peace activist,” she said. “Ever since I did the Peace Corps in West Africa in the ’60s.”

Lee Sharkey, also a Women in Black member from Vienna, was last in Washington in 1969 to protest the Vietnam War.

“There’s an exciting mix of young people and older people here – some that settled back into their lives after Vietnam and are back in Washington after 30 years,” Sharkey said.

Joel Pickelner of Lubec, a veteran who protested the war after returning from Vietnam, said he was excited to be back on the National Mall again.

“This is just building up … it will get bigger,” he said, adding that he thought it was good to see protests this time before Americans get killed.

A small group from the University of Maine also traveled to Washington on the Bangor buses.

“It’s so inspirational to be here,” said recent graduate Katie Mann.

“In this movement you feel squashed and you feel like you’re outnumbered, but when you’re here you realize that you’re not.”

Ilze Peterson, spokeswoman for the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine, which organized the buses from the Bangor area, said she was impressed with how many people contacted the group about going to Washington.

“These are people we’ve never heard of before, from all ages and backgrounds … high school students, college students, people who are retired, ministers, doctors and veterans,” Peterson said.

“People feel very strongly that they don’t want to see a war on Iraq,” she said. “We can let inspectors do their work. A war would cost the life of innocent people in Iraq and cost billions of dollars we need back at home for our struggling economy.”