LAFAYETTE -- An angry confrontation erupted Thursday between the parents of a Tracy Marine killed in Iraq and the creators of a controversial war memorial that has covered a Lafayette hillside with crosses honoring the war's casualties.

The parents of Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey were part of the pro-troop Move America Forward's "These Colors Don't Run" caravan. The group started their cross-country trip to rally of support for the troops serving in Iraq with a 20-minute stop at the Lafayette memorial.

Scott Conover, Dewey's father, became incensed when he discovered a cross with his son's name on it among the several thousand on the hillside. Dewey, 20, was killed along with Marine Cpl. Carlos Arellanopandura, 22, of Los Angeles by a car bomb during combat in Iraq's Anbar province in January.

He immediately confronted Jeff Heaton, a Lafayette contractor, who is the chief organizer of the memorial.

"Can you tell me what this name was doing up there sir?" Conover said.

"I think it's appropriate to have it up there to honor the dead," Heaton countered.

But Conover's anger continued to mount.

"It's not appropriate to put my son's name up there with or without our permission as far as I'm concerned," he said.

When asked by the property's owner if he had walked up the hillside to remove the name, Conover answer: "I took it off myself…You shouldn't have put my son's name up there…I didn't take the cross down."

The hillside memorial has been a galvanizing point for the war debate in the Bay Area. It has a sign that reads: "In Memory of 3,111 Troops Killed in Iraq" and is surrounded by more than 2,300 4-foot wooden crosses -- many with the names of the troops killed.

It is visible from a BART station, busy Highway 24 and by anyone driving or walking through central Lafayette.

In addition to Lafayette, the Move America Forward caravan plans to make other stops in California and other states. Participants expect to arrive March 17 in Washington, D.C., where they will rally in support of U.S. troops.