The peace march that has stomped north on a 10-day walk from areas throughout the state has arrived in Watertown.

A few walkers met at the Different Drummer Cafe, Watertown, at a Friday morning press conference to promote their message: Iraq war veterans need resources to treat the injuries, physical and mental, they are suffering while being deployed.

The group will hold a daylong festival today to spread the message to soldiers about resources available for treating post-traumatic stress disorder, Different Drummer co-owner Tod Ensign said.

The Fort Drum Spring Festival will begin at 1 p.m. at Black Water River Park & Campground on Huntington Street. It will include music, food and information about treating PTSD.

Some activists will hand out fliers about PTSD at the Armed Forces Day parade being held along Washington Street this morning.

A confrontation between marchers and parade-goers is unlikely, Mr. Ensign said.

"Some of these people are pacifists," he said. "We're talking about people who would choose not to kill an ant if they had the chance."

The group did not try to march in the parade, he said.

Nathan J. Lewis, an Iraq veteran from a small Niagara County town he likened to Adams, said he joined the New York Marchers for Peace on Thursday in Adams Center.

While making the hike to Watertown, their conversations ranged from the vast beauty of the area to the state of the government and the way it is helping soldiers.

"It's a great way to see the state," Mr. Lewis said.

While some people stopped to talk to the marchers, other motorists offered less friendly hand gestures.

"We had about 10 teenagers just drop what they were doing to join us in Adams," he said.

Mr. Lewis enlisted in the Army for two years and was deployed in March 2003 from Fort Sill, Okla.

He spent his tour of duty at a base near Baghdad. During that time, he was largely cut off from the outside world, he said.

When he came home, the transition to civilian life was hard, Mr. Lewis said.

"I live in a small town and I felt out of place," he said. "I was going to NCCC (Niagara County Community College), but I still felt a lot of isolation."

He has since joined Iraq Veterans Against the War and recently decided to participate in the walk.

Mr. Lewis does not suffer from PTSD, "although everyone has their own issues," he said.

Helping soldiers with those issues is Eric Werthman, a Brooklyn psychotherapist who said he has a "loose group" of professionals who are helping soldiers and their families with free or low-cost counseling. The Returning Veterans Response Network has offices in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

The group can be contacted at 1 (347) 663-5570.