Brook Park, Ohio – The 14 Marines killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb today were members of the same Ohio-based battalion that lost six Marines two days earlier, and nine of them were from a single smaller unit in Columbus, Marine officials said.
The 14 Marines were members of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based in this Cleveland suburb, according to Gunnery Sgt. Brad R. Lauer, public affairs chief with the unit.
Nine of them were members of the battalion’s Lima Company, situated in Columbus, said Master Sgt. Stephen Walter, a spokesman for the company.
It was not clear if all nine were from the Columbus area.
The companies to which the rest of the 14 Marines were assigned weren’t immediately disclosed.
The battalion also has units in Brook Park, where the six Marines who died Monday were assigned, and in Akron; Moundsville, W.Va.; and Buffalo, N.Y. None of the 14 were from the Moundsville unit, said Capt. Jeremy Dempsey.
The 14 were killed when a Marine armored vehicle on patrol near the Syrian border hit a roadside bomb. They were riding in an amphibious assault vehicle, which is designed to carry troops from ship to shore and on land. The site is just outside Haditha, which is 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.
It was one of the deadliest single attacks in Iraq against American forces. A civilian interpreter also was killed.
The names of those killed were not released.
The first six died while on sniper duty Monday northwest of Baghdad. They were members of the Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, based in Brook Park, a working class community of 21,000 southwest of Cleveland.
The Marine Corps identified Monday’s dead as Sgts. Nathaniel S. Rock of Toronto, near Steubenville, and David J. Coullard, whose hometown wasn’t given; Cpl. Jeffrey A. Boskovitch of North Royalton; and Lance Cpls. Brian P. Montgomery, whose wife lives in Mentor, Daniel N. Deyarmin of Tallmadge, and Roger D. Castleberry Jr., whose wife lives in Cedar Park, Texas.
Early today, several businesses in Brook Park tied red, white and blue ribbons on their doors, and some had American flags hanging in the windows.
A bouquet of red roses was placed at the gate of the Marine headquarters, an old brick schoolhouse. It was largely empty with a few Marines looking somber but unable to speak with the media because of a military gag order.
Boskovitch, 25, was an aspiring police officer who planned to set a wedding date with his girlfriend when he returned home this fall. He joined the Marine reserves in 2000, his uncle Paul Boskovitch said Tuesday.
“We got a lot of e-mail from him,” Boskovitch said. “He felt he was making a difference there and that the Iraqi people were appreciative of what they were doing. He loved the Marines and he loved his unit.” Before this week’s deaths, the 3rd Battalion’s Web site listed 25 of its Marines killed this year in Iraq.
