Ohio Battalion Feels Iraq Sting
War's Toll Heavily Felt After 20 Marines Killed In One Week
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Play CBS Video Video Ohio Town Loses 20 Marines Twenty Marines, all from the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, have been killed in Iraq this week. Byron Pitts reports from Brook Park, Ohio, where the unit is headquartered.
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Video Ohio Marines Killed Fourteen Marines from the same Ohio-based reserve unit that recently saw six other casualties were killed in Iraq. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on the surge in violence.
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Video Exit Strategy In Iraq The latest attacks in Iraq raise an obvious question: how is it that the military can talk about drawing down U.S. forces? David Martin reports.
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Michael and Jessica Davis wait while their grandmother, Marie Gallagher, places a flag at the fence outside the 25th Marine Regiment's 3rd Battalion in Brook Park, Ohio, Aug. 3, 2005. (AP)
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Dan Boskovitch reacts while talking about his nephew, Jeff Boskovitch, one of six Marines killed Monday in Iraq, as Jeff's step-mother listens in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Aug. 2, 2005. (AP)
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"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."
©MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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