Chanting "N-A-T-O, NATO has got to go," rows of veterans marched in formation Sunday leading thousands in an anti-war protest as world leaders gathered here for a two-day NATO summit.

Upon arrival near the convention center where the summit is taking place, one veteran threw his medals on the road, calling them symbols of lies.

"I choose human life over war," Jerry Bordeleau shouted through a microphone.

"This isn't an easy decision for anybody here,” Steven Acheson, an Army veteran, said before sending off his medals. He served for five years, including more than a year in Iraq and was among the dozens of veterans returning their service medals.