Ohio Battalion Feels Iraq Sting

Two days after an Ohio-based Marine battalion lost six members in Iraq, 14 more of the battalion's troops were killed Wednesday when a huge bomb destroyed their lightly armored vehicle, hurling it into the air in a giant fireball in the deadliest roadside bombing suffered by American forces in the Iraq war.

The 14 Marines and a civilian interpreter were trapped inside the 50,000-pound troop carrier and killed, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi. The 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.

The Company, which used to call itself "Lucky Lima," had already lost eleven servicemen since the beginning of the war, CBS News reports, including

All 14 new casualties were based in Brook Park, a blue-collar Cleveland suburb of 21,000, according to Gunnery Sgt. Brad R. Lauer, public affairs chief. The battalion was activated in January and went to Iraq in March.

CBS News Correspondent Byron Pitts reports that one of the killed Marines, Lance Cpl. Brian Montgomery, left a wife and baby boy who just celebrated his first birthday.

"He probably could have gotten out of going just because he has a newborn son," said Paul Montgomery, Brian's father. "But he said, 'No, I have a job to do, I have a duty to do for my country.' He said, 'Don't worry, dad, I'll be back.'"

The family of one of the dead, Lance Cpl. Jeff Boskovitch, met in the driveway of his father's Cuyahoga Falls home late Tuesday evening to remember him, the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal reported.

"He had the biggest heart in the world. He was just a great kid," his uncle, Dan Boskovitch, told the newspaper. He said his nephew, had aspirations of pursuing a career in law enforcement.

Boskovitch was one of the five Marines killed on Monday in the northwestern Iraqi town of Haditha.

"You never know who it could be. It could be your best friend. It could be your husband — it could be anyone from here," Eleanor Matelski, 69, said as she angrily tore up a paper cup that held her morning coffee at a doughnut shop down the street from the battalion's headquarters.

"Tell Bush to get our soldiers out of there now before any more of our soldiers die. This is getting to be ridiculous," she said.

At the doughnut shop, nearly everyone seated at the counter said they knew someone connected to the battalion. "Those boys come in here," said shop manager Pat Wilsox.

Wilsox threw her hand over her heart when she heard the news that the battalion had suffered more losses. "Oh my God," she said softly. "I'm all for protection but this is getting a little bit ridiculous."

Rex Lott's son, Cpl. Billy Lott, serves with the weapons company out of Akron. He said the last 24 hours have been rough, waiting for any word, hoping his son is all right. He left work early Wednesday to go to the reserve center.

"They expressed that they hadn't heard anything yet," said Lott, 53. "No news is good news as far as they're concerned."

The six killed Monday on sniper duty were from the Brook Park company. Grief and anger shook the battalion's working-class hometown Wednesday as families anxiously awaited answers.

A few steps away from the doughnut shop, near the gates of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, residents piled red roses, American flags, handwritten notes of condolences and white crosses — one each to symbolize the six reservists.

Unlike in the Vietnam War, reserve troops sent to Iraq train and fight together. The rational is that the soldiers will know each other better in a combat environment, increasing their effectiveness and chances of survival, military historians said. However, the risk is greater that the same geographical area will suffer multiple casualties.

"It makes it pretty traumatic for the area involved," said Allan Millett, professor of military history at Ohio State University.

The Vietnam War was fought largely by active-duty troops who were replaced by individual soldiers from around the nation.

Tire shop manager Bob Fekete said the 3rd Battalion's losses weighed heavy on him. He's done auto work for some of the headquarters' Marines.

A Marine veteran from the Vietnam War, he did not express the anger some of his neighbors did. "It's just one of those things. It's part of the game," Fekete said in the shop's lobby decorated with American flags and a box filled with toys being collected for a Marine charity.

The 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, was first activated on May 1, 1943, and fought in several battles in World War II. It helped capture a key airfield at the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific. Before this week's dead, the unit's Web site listed 25 of its Marines had been killed this year.

Across the ocean, remaining Ohio Marines soldier on, and have different concerns, reports Alfonsi.

"I think it's important to remember that this is a very lethal and adaptive enemy," said Gen. Carter Ham.

Meanwhile, at the center of this Democratic stronghold, politicians huddled at City Hall, planning a memorial service for later in the week.

U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, whose district includes the battalion, put aside his well-known criticism of the war to offer comfort.

"Someone's love has been destroyed here. Someone's child or husband or wife has been killed," the Democrat said Wednesday on WEWS-TV. "We need to close ranks as one community to support these families."