CHARLOTTE -- Some students at UNC Charlotte held an anti-war protest on Thursday that included a “die-in” where students simulated the death toll of Iraq’s war.

This week marked the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion. Some spoke out against the war and its impact -- from civilian and soldier deaths to increasing tuition prices. Students for a Democratic Society hosted the event. Sponsors also included the UNCC Earth Club and the Muslim Student Association.

Chris Camerino helped organize the protest. “All the money's going to defense and there's not money going to education, there's not money going to public services [or] health care,” he said.

The group hoped to raise awareness of how the war affects every part of American life. “The more this goes on the more people are going to be outraged [about] what’s going on,” Camerino said.

Picket signs touched on the issues of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the rising cost of gasoline, the foreclosure rate and the death toll from the war.

But argued Chaz Neeler, who was at the event, “We don't want to be there any more than they want us to be there, but we have to be there, there's no easy solution.

Neeler sat just a few feet away from the protest talking to campus reporters. Until a medical discharge, Neeler planned to make the military his career. Now he keeps up with the war through friends who are fighting in Iraq. “Many, many good friends. One of them just returned from his third tour. Unfortunately, I lost one or two friends. We've seen horrible things. But at the same time we knew what we were going into,” said Neeler.

Neeler supports the war and these students' right to voice their opposition but wonders if they have accurate information. “We're fighting so they have their rights. I would never dream of infringing on their right to say this. I do sometimes question their knowledge of the facts,” said Neeler.

According to www.icasulties.org there have been 3,992 soldiers killed since the Iraq war started. Of that, 92 were from North Carolina.