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thedrifter
01-02-07, 08:23 AM
'NO WAR' and 'GUNG HO' have staying power

By Kristin Saunders
Staff Reporter

ROCKLAND (Jan 2): Ruth Stevens sends a simple message coming and going along local roadways: NO WAR.

Stevens and her husband, Leroy Peasley of Rockland, say personal experiences drive the motivation behind their NO WAR license plate. Peasley, a World War II veteran, also has a vanity plate of his own with military ties: GUNG HO.

Peasley chose GUNG HO from a Chinese saying that means working together and the spirit behind the United States Marine Corps.

Stevens created the NO WAR license plate before the spring 2003, the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In August 2002 Stevens had intended to place her name on her license plate, but chose NO WAR in anticipation of the war in Iraq.

Stevens said wars have bothered her since she was a little girl and her brother was serving in the United States Air Force in WWII. She remembers hearing the planes and wondering if they were going to bomb her home. She would contemplate what she would do if the enemy dropped a bomb on her home.

"The more this happens the less I can do anything about it," Stevens said.

Stevens now worries when Peasley, who makes no secret about his disapproval of the war in Iraq, takes her NO WAR-plated car on errands.

One day after substitute teaching in Lincolnville, Peasley found a bullet on the ground next to the NO WAR car.

For as strong as their anti-war feelings run, they also believe some conflicts are justified. For instance, Peasley believes the military efforts in Afghanistan are warranted.

"We went and made this mess, now let's get out," Peasley said of the US war in Iraq.

US efforts in WWII were much different than current efforts in Iraq, he believes. Peasley signed up for the Marines just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when he was 17-years old. He said the war was justified because the Japanese attacked the United States, rather than the modern day situation where the United States attacked Iraq.

"We were fighting because we had a reason," Peasley said of WWII.

From 1942 to 1945 Peasley served in the United States Marine Corps, fighting in the 3rd Marine Division in the South Pacific and guarded President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

At first Peasley didn't embrace being selected as one of the President's guards; he wanted to fight behind enemy lines. Yet the Marines chose him for presidential guard position because he was adamant about serving his country and because generations of his family had served in the military.

"I wanted to go fight," Peasley said.

Peasley remembers his time guarding Roosevelt, including a meeting between the President and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Peasley has since tried to revisit the President's lodge, which was a place he could go and clearly see the Little Dipper in the night sky. Some day he hopes to return to the lodge, now known as Camp David, to view the little dipper before he dies.

During the war, Peasley spent 14 months guarding the President. Roosevelt died when Peasley was fighting in the Pacific.

Once overseas, Peasley patrolled and fought in Guam and assisted in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Peasley came from Guam to help bury the men that died in Iwo Jima.

Peasley completed his career in the Marines as a Sergeant, but says he has never left and being a Marine is in his heart.

"I never left the Marine Corps," Peasley said.

Peasley continues to substitute teach today and teaches his students a WWII history lesson without their text books.

When Peasley isn't teaching, he and Stevens can be seen in the NO WAR car or GUNG HO truck every Friday when they go sing at a local soup kitchen or on their way to sing at the Shore Village Rehabilitation & Nursing Center.

Ellie