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CplCrotty
08-03-05, 07:42 AM
The Ohio Marines (25th Marines) have been hit hard, again. My prayers go out to each one and their families. I don't know how a Reserve unit can recover after being hit this hard.

7 Ohio reservists killed
Gunmen describe attack to residents of Iraq town, display equipment
By Thomas J. Sheeran

Associated Press

BROOK PARK | Seven Marine reservists attached to the same suburban Cleveland unit were killed while on sniper duty in Iraq, a military official said Tuesday.

One of the Marines died Monday in a suicide car bombing in Hit, 85 miles northwest of Baghdad. The other six were killed Monday in Haditha, 50 miles from Hit.

"Every single one of them is a hero," said Lt. Col. Kevin Rush of the Headquarters and Service Co. 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based in Brook Park, a suburb of about 21,000 people southwest of Cleveland.

All the Marines were from northeast Ohio, including Sgt. Nathaniel Rock, 26, of Toronto and Lance Cpl. Jeff Boskovitch, 25, of North Royalton.

The U.S. command said the six Marines were "engaged by terrorists and killed by small-arms fire" in Haditha, which U.S. and Iraqi officials have identified as a major route for insurgents entering Iraq.

The Marines launched a series of operations in the region in May and June in hopes of pacifying the area so that Iraqi military and civilian forces could assume effective control.

After the attack, residents of Haditha said several masked gunmen identifying themselves as members of the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, appeared in the market carrying helmets, flak jackets and automatic rifles they said belonged to U.S. troops.

They distributed fliers claiming they had killed 10 American service members.

"They were on a mountain near the town so we went up, surrounded them and asked them to surrender," the statement said. "They did not surrender, so we killed them."

EDNA TRIMBLE
08-03-05, 10:26 AM
God may forgive them , We certainly won't. they will get theirs when its time.not one of these boys deaths are in vain. because they believed in freedom and keeping this country that way. god love them all.

marinefamily5
08-03-05, 11:01 AM
IT JUST CAME ACROSS CHANNEL 10 NEW THAT 9 MORE MARINES WAS KILLED THIS MORNING IN IRAQ..............FROM LIMA COMPANY

Toby M
08-03-05, 11:08 AM
"They were on a mountain near the town so we went up, surrounded them and asked them to surrender," the statement said. "They did not surrender, so we killed them."


Well, that might be because Marines don't know the meaning of surrender-it's an HONOR thing but you wouldn't understand...That word doesn't fit well with the hatred insurgents spew out! Their hatred for Americans and freedom as well as democracy...Oh yeah, these are foreign words to these "people" too!

outlaw3179
08-03-05, 11:22 AM
I just read that 14 more Marines were killed when their AAV was hit by a massive IED. God Bless those Marines ! and all of 3/25 , those are some heave casualties to take in 3 days. My prayers are with all of their souls and their families of all US servicemen and women killed in Iraq.


Semper Fidelis

marinefamily5
08-03-05, 02:03 PM
The Department of Defense announced today the death of six Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cpl. Jeffrey A. Boskovitch, 25, of Seven Hills, Ohio



Lance Cpl. Roger D. Castleberry Jr., 26, of Austin, Texas



Sgt. David J. Coullard, 32, of Glastonbury, Conn.



Lance Cpl. Daniel N. Deyarmin Jr., 22, of Tallmadge, Ohio



Lance Cpl. Brian P. Montgomery, 26, of Willoughby, Ohio



Sgt. Nathaniel S. Rock, 26, of Toronto, Ohio



All died Aug. 1 as result of enemy small-arms fire while conducting dismounted operations outside Haditha, Iraq. Castleberry was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, San Antonio, Texas. The other five Marines were assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Brookpark, Ohio. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, all were attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

marinefamily5
08-04-05, 06:11 AM
THIS IS THE LATEST I HAVE HEARD ON LIMA 3/25


The deadliest roadside bombing since the war in Iraq began killed 14 members of an Ohio-based Marine Reserve battalion yesterday, including nine from the Columbus-based Lima Company.

The deaths mean the 3 rd Battalion, 25 th Marine Regiment, based in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park, has lost 19 members since Monday.

The Rickenbacker-based Lima Company, which is part of that battalion, has lost 16 members and four other Marines attached to it since May.

As of late last night, four of those who died yesterday had been identified: Lance Cpl. Timothy Michael Bell Jr., 22, of West Chester in suburban Cincinnati; Pfc. Michael CiFuentes, 25, of Oxford in Butler County; Lance Cpl. Edward Schroeder, 23, of Cleveland, a one-time student at Ohio State University; and Lance Cpl. Brett Wightman, 22, of Sabina in Clinton County.

The companies of the other five dead Marines weren’t released yesterday. Besides Brook Park and Columbus, the battalion has units in Akron, Moundsville, W.Va., and Buffalo, N.Y.

"This has hit us very hard emotionally," said Lima Company Master Sgt. Stephen Walter.

Walter said that most of Lima Company’s nine dead were from outside of Franklin County. He declined to identify any of the dead. He said company officials were continuing to notify family members last night.

Isolde Zierk, Lima Company’s volunteer coordinator for families, said her phone has been ringing off the hook.

She heard the news on television yesterday morning and started shaking. Her son, Sgt. Guy Zierk, 29, serves in the company

"I can’t give them information, but at least I can assure them," she said of the relatives calling her. "I think mostly, they need to talk to someone."

Pat Murray, of Cincinnati, whose son Cpl. David Kreuter is part of Lima Company, spent much of yesterday calling every person who could possibly have information on her 26-year-old son.

"We’re all very, very confused," she said. "I haven’t heard from him lately at all."

The Defense Department released few details of the explosion. The members of Lima Company were in the town of Haditha, in western Iraq near the Syrian border, said Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, during a Defense Department briefing.

The Marines were riding in an armored Amphibious Assault Vehicle, the vehicle they would normally use for operations, when it struck an explosive.

Along with being the single deadliest roadside bombing since the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, it’s one of the worst of the war.

In April 2004, as many as 12 Marines were killed when they were attacked in Ramadi, and in November 2004, 14 troops and four contractors were killed by a suicide bomber at a mess hall near Mosul.

Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s son, 19-year-old Lance Cpl. John David "J.D." Coleman, is stationed in Iraq as a member of Lima Company.

Yesterday, the mayor kept a television tuned into 24-hour news channels.

"We’re in the same boat as everyone else . . . no news is good news," said Mike Brown, Coleman’s spokesman. Coleman declined to comment, saying this was a family issue.

Lima Company has now lost 10 percent of the 160 members who went to Iraq in March.

Two Lima members — Cpl. Andre L. Williams, of the Far West Side, and Lance Cpl. Christopher P. Lyons, of Shelby — were killed one week ago today clearing buildings in the same area of Iraq.

And five members of the battalion were killed Monday while on sniper duty.

In May, five members were killed during an offensive in western Iraq, along with four other Marines attached to the company.

Schroeder’s mother, Rosemary Palmer, said she and her husband were talking about plans to attend funerals of the reservists killed Monday when Marines came to tell them of her son’s death.

Palmer said her son joined the military in 2002 despite her opposition; she wouldn’t even let him play with toy guns while he was growing up.

"He was persuaded that if he joined the Marines he would get a new sense of purpose."

Timothy Michael Bell Sr. said he last talked to his son two weeks ago.

"My son was the last of the John Waynes, but tougher."

Missy Luttrell, Wightman’s aunt, said her nephew had been interested in the military since he was 3 years old.

"He would play with those GI Joes and he’d say, ‘I’m going to grow up and be one of these guys.’ All of his life, that’s all he would talk about," she said.

Five of six Marines who died Monday of small-arms fire while conducting operations outside Haditha were from the 3 rd Battalion, 25 th Regiment. Dead are Cpl. Jeffrey A. Boskovitch, 25, of Seven Hills, Ohio; Lance Cpl. Roger D. Castleberry Jr., 26, of Austin, Texas; Sgt. David J. Coullard, 32, of Glastonbury, Conn.; Lance Cpl. Daniel N. Deyarmin Jr., 22, of Tallmadge, Ohio; Lance Cpl. Brian P. Montgomery, 26, of Willoughby, Ohio; and Sgt. Nathaniel S. Rock, 26, of Toronto, Ohio.

The battalion was activated in January and went to Iraq in March. It has about 860 members in all.

The Associated Press and Dispatch reporters Jodi Andes and Kevin Kidder contributed to this story.

CplCrotty
08-04-05, 07:46 AM
I knew Master Sgt. Walter when he was a Sergeant in my platoon with the Dayton MP's. Good Marine.

marinefamily5
08-04-05, 12:07 PM
I work at the same place this marine did. Never met him or anything because he left for active duty before i got here.

Lance Cpl. Brett Wightman, 22, of Sabina in Clinton County.

mrbsox
08-04-05, 12:24 PM
If memory serves;

Back in May....
wasn't it India 3/25 that took a big hit, and had a AmTrac lit up with an rpg ??
Lost some Devil Dogs inside and couldn't get them out while ammo was cooking off ??

marinefamily5
08-04-05, 12:27 PM
Yes your right.................that is the company

gunnydi
08-04-05, 12:47 PM
All of the Military Moms and Families from Ohio are mourning our losses. My son is in Iraq but not with the reserve unit. He is currently with the MSG Battalion. The heaviness of the loss of the fallen 20 has hit us all hard and directly in our hearts. All of Ohio are mourning along with the fallen heroes families. Flags fly at half staff in honor of the ultimate sacrifice given by these marines and their families. We all sit in wonderment as to how one unit can lose so many in 2 days time. But we all remember, war has a price, and yes, it's a tremendously high price for many.

To all those who send condolences and strength through prayers, let me tell you as an Ohio marine mom, we do so appreciate your kindness and thoughfulness. We will never forget those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this Nation, and we will never forget those that stood with us in celebration and our greatest sorrow and loss.

Just my thoughts as I share with everyone the value of a life, every single life........

Sharing in sorrow, an Ohio Military Mom of 2

:marine:

CplCrotty
08-04-05, 01:01 PM
Well said, gunnydi.

marinefamily5
08-04-05, 01:27 PM
A Ross County reservist has been named as one of nine killed in the Wednesday attack on a Columbus-based battalion in Iraq.

Aaron Reed, 21, of Londonderry, was one of nine reservists killed from Lima Company. The attack was the worst roadside bombing targeting American forces in the Iraq war.

While confirmation hadn’t come from the company headquarters or the Defense Dept., Mary Ann Queen, close friend and co-worker of Reed’s mother, Sara Duvall, said she was informed of the loss Wednesday.

Duvall is an art teacher in the Southeastern school district. She could not be reached for comment today. In 2001, Reed graduated from the school, where he ran cross country and served as senior class president.

The bombing that killed the 14 Marines occurred near Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, along a major infiltration route for foreign fighters entering the country from Syria.

A Marine officer, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said the troops were traveling in an armored amphibious vehicle to assault insurgent positions near the Haditha dam when a thunderous blast flipped the vehicle over and set it afire.

Lima Company also lost four Marines in another attack in May, said Master Sgt. Stephen Walter, the company’s public affairs officer.

Twenty pink roses and a teddy bear were propped up on the sign that identifies the Columbus-based headquarters of Lima Company Thursday morning. There was a yellow ribbon on the chain link fence around the headquarters and a balloon with the words “proud and free” written on it tied to the fence.

marinefamily5
08-04-05, 01:45 PM
5 Of 14 Marines Killed By Roadside Bomb From Cincinnati
1 Marine Was Photographer For Marine Corps Web Site

UPDATED: 11:38 am EDT August 4, 2005

CINCINNATI -- Five Cincinnati-area men were among the 14 Marines killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq Wednesday.

David Kreuter, a graduate of St. Xavier High School and the University of Cincinnati, never got to meet his 7-week-old son. Krueter died in the blast that killed Pfc. Michael Joseph Cifuentes, Chris Dyer, Brett Wightman, and Lance Cpl. Timothy Michael Bell Jr.

The five were members of Lima Company, based in Columbus, and the Brook Park-based battalion involved in the single deadliest roadside bombing of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Kreuter had been in Iraq since March.

Kreuter majored in criminal justice at UC, but he wanted to make the Marines his career and planned to go to Officers' Training School, his family said.

Cifuentes, 24, was a graduate of St. Xavier High School, a graduate student at Miami University and a substitute teacher at Talawanda High School. He had been a writer and photographer for the Marine Corps Web site.

His fiancee, Tara Reynolds, of Hamilton, was notified of his death Wednesday afternoon, WLWT-TV in Cincinnati reported.

Dyer, 19, was a graduate of Princeton High School and a diver. He had planned to attend Ohio State University.

Relatives said Bell, 22, a West Chester native, had wanted to be a Marine since he was 6 years old.

"My son was the last of the John Waynes, but tougher," said his father, Timothy Michael Bell Sr., who last talked to his 22-year-old son two weeks ago.

The younger Bell, a Lakota East High School graduate, was a black-belt in judo and was hoping to buy a motorcycle when he returned to home in September, his father said.

Always protective of his three younger sisters, Bell applied that same ethic to joining the military, his father said.

"It's very important for me that everybody knows that he did this for them," the elder Bell said.

When his parents took him to Columbus in January to deploy for training with Lima Company, Bell had just one message for them, his stepmother said.

"He just said, 'This is what I was born to do,"' Vivian Bell said.

Wightman, 23, of Sabina, graduated from East Clinton High School in Clinton County. He had been interested in the military since he was 3 years old, relatives said.

"He would play with those GI Joes and he'd say, 'I'm going to grow up and be one of these guys.' All of his life, that's all he would talk about," said Missy Luttrell, Wightman's aunt.

Fourteen Marines were killed in the bombing, most of them from a Columbus-based company that also suffered multiple casualties just months ago. The losses came two days after the same reservist battalion lost five other members in the fighting.

Nine of the reservists killed Wednesday were members of Lima Company, which lost four Marines in another attack in May, said Master Sgt. Stephen Walter, the company's public affairs officer.

gunnydi
08-04-05, 01:46 PM
Amen, God Rest the Souls of Our Brave.

marinefamily5
08-04-05, 07:27 PM
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 794-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 04, 2005
Media Contact: Marine Corps Public Affairs - (703) 614-4309
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

DoD Identifies Marine Casualties


The Department of Defense announced today the death of
seven Marines
who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.



Lance Cpl. Timothy M. Bell Jr., 22, of West Chesterfield,
Ohio



Lance Cpl. Eric J. Bernholtz, 23, of Grove City, Ohio



Lance Cpl. Nicholas William B. Bloem, 20, of Belgrade,
Mont.



Sgt. Bradley J. Harper, 25, of Dresden, Ohio



Sgt. Justin F. Hoffman, 27, of Delaware, Ohio



Cpl. David Kenneth J. Kreuter, 26, of Cincinnati, Ohio



Cpl. David S. Stewart, 24, of Bogalusa, La.



All died August 3 when their Amphibious Assault Vehicle was
attacked by
an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations south
of Haditha,
Iraq. Bloem was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 4th Reconnaissance
Battalion,
4th Marine Division, Billings, Mont. Harper was assigned to Marine
Forces
Reserve's 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division,
Norfolk, Va.
Stewart was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 4th Assault Amphibian
Battalion,
4th Marine Division, Gulfport, Miss. The other four Marines were
assigned to
Marine Forces Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine
Division,
Columbus, Ohio. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, they all were
attached to
Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary
Force
(Forward).

marinefamily5
08-04-05, 07:29 PM
http://10tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3676651&nav=LUERcttC

gunnydi
08-04-05, 08:08 PM
Sign the Guestbooks of our Fallen Beloved Marines.

http://www.legacy.com/Dispatch/Soldiers.asp?Page=FSSearchResults&Sort=Newspaper

gunnydi
08-04-05, 08:32 PM
To sign the Condolence Books for the Ohio Fallen:

http://www.legacy.com/Dispatch/Soldiers.asp?Page=FSSearchResults&Sort=Newspaper

Semper Fidelis and Semper Gumby
Always Faithful and Always Saddened by their Ultimate Sacrifice.
God Bless.
Amen
Gunni Di