Just before Veterans Day, Woody Powell, a Korean War veteran from Jefferson County, got an e-mail from one of his senators in Washington thanking him for his service.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., probably wasn't expecting the reaction her thank-you note brought.

Powell wrote back that his Air Force service had consisted of enlisting "as an ignorant youngster, being taught to kill, and then put into a situation where I had to kill to stay alive. ...

"I am not a hero for what I did under those circumstances," Powell added. "Anything but. Once I found out what wars were really about, I could no longer drink the Kool-Aid you are offering."

Powell asked McCaskill to "give me something to thank you for: an end to these stupid, bankrupting, soul-destroying wars."

McCaskill didn't answer Powell but later responded to the Post-Dispatch, saying in part: "I'm hopeful that our military successes will allow our troops to come home as soon as possible."

Powell, 78, a retired small-business owner, began campaigning against war in 1991 after reading about four veterans who started a chapter here of something called Veterans For Peace.

"Just the idea of veterans being for peace seemed a hell of a good idea," Powell remembered thinking.

He immediately signed up, then became the organization's national executive director from 2001-2005.

This year, the group celebrates its 25th anniversary and bills itself as the largest veterans organization working to eliminate all wars and promote peace.

The group's national headquarters operates out of a modest, two-story townhouse in Clayton, a block from the St. Louis County Courthouse. A yard sign in the grass out front reads: "Support the troops/ Bring them home."

The nonprofit group claims 120 active nationwide chapters and 5,000 members.

Its website asks, "How is the war economy working for you?" and ticks off these statistics:

• More than 4,400 Americans killed in Iraq and 32,000 wounded.

• Some 1,300 Americans killed in Afghanistan and 9,400 wounded.

• Dead civilians total more than 33,400 in Afghanistan and 1.4 million in Iraq, according to JustForeignPolicy.org.

In addition, the veterans group says the cost of war includes lifetime care for injured veterans, a weakened U.S. economy and billions of dollars cut from health, education and social programs.

Some veterans want nothing to do with those who oppose war.

Many would rather "throw a punch" at the bad guys, says Matt Scherrer, a former Army Ranger officer with two tours of duty in Iraq and two more in Afghanistan. He works for a private equity firm in Clayton.

Although his office is within sight of the Veterans For Peace headquarters, he was unaware of the peace group.

"I would generally be in support of such an organization," he said, "if their motives are pure."

Eric Greitens, a Parkway North graduate, former Navy Seal and a decorated Iraq War veteran, says returning vets know all too well of war's deadly costs.

Why don't more of them join an anti-war effort?

Because most are too busy trying to put their own lives back together, says Greitens. He operates The Mission Continues to help disabled vets continue in public service.

Powell, the former Veterans For Peace leader, says he's seen many veterans come home "loaded with shame."

He was one.

Of his Korean War service he says: "I didn't know that we bombed the hell out of every single village and hamlet in that entire peninsula until I talked to someone who was a bombardier."

WIDER AUDIENCE SOUGHT

Members of Veterans For Peace are a diverse group. Some are pacifists; others believe in "just" wars. Some support war resisters, while others don't. Some wanted to impeach then-President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney; others found that effort polarizing and non-productive.

In October, Veterans For Peace marched in Washington with other anti-war groups. In September, it supported WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning. In August, it held a webcast with two veterans who said they had participated in torture in Iraq.

Veterans For Peace sends money to buy water treatment units in Iraq, where a severe water shortage continues; donates copies of "10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military" to public schools and libraries; and spotlights the case of LaVena Lynn Johnson, an honors graduate of Hazelwood Central High School and Missouri's first female soldier to die in Iraq.

The Army ruled Johnson's death a suicide while her family says she was raped and murdered.

Dennis Lane, who became executive director of the veterans group nine months ago, wants the peace movement to become more mainstream to reach a wider audience.

"There are very patriotic people on both sides of the war issue," he says. "We want to speak in a balanced approach to both sides."

He is meeting with corporations, foundations, unions and others he hopes can help boost the group's annual $600,000 budget, mostly from members' contributions.

He recently flew to Hollywood to arrange a future fundraiser.

One problem he inherited is his organization's record with the Better Business Bureau.

Last year, the BBB said the veterans group didn't meet nine of the BBB's 20 standards for charities. The group didn't have an annual report or disclose the amount spent on fundraising, administration or programs.

This year, the Veterans For Peace national organization didn't give the BBB any requested information.

Lane said he'll give the BBB all the information it asks for and plans to meet all its standards by year's end.

"We have nothing to hide; I just wasn't aware of it," said Lane, whose annual salary is $55,000.As for the future, he sees an uphill battle for anti-war groups, which haven't come close to capturing the same degree of public backing as Vietnam War protesters.

"The war has gone on for so long that people are almost numb to it," he says. "Even when the right message is being distributed."

He says some people still confuse anti-war protesters with hippy radicals from the 1960s and 1970s.

For them, he says, "Peace is a dirty word."