A Hard Blow for One Town in Ohio

Crisp American flags and emotionally worn spirits Wednesday filled the streets of this working-class town, headquarters of a Marine battalion that this week lost 19 young men in Iraq.

Families and neighbors waited anxiously to hear the names of the 14 members of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, who died Wednesday while on patrol near Haditha, about 130 miles northwest of Baghdad. Military officials said the reservists’ armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

On Monday, five Marines from the same battalion who had been trained as snipers were killed in an ambush near the Syrian border.

“How much more are we expected to give?” asked Nancy Chase, 47, a schoolteacher who came to place flowers and flags at the entrance of the battalion’s headquarters.

“We are patriotic people. We love our country. But how many lives are enough?”

Outside the headquarters’ fence, residents created an impromptu memorial. Handwritten notes expressed sorrow, one signed “a grateful American family” and another “an old Vietnam combat Vet.” Bunches of red roses covered the ground, scenting the air even as the blooms wilted in the muggy heat.

Nestled in one bouquet was a color photograph of Cpl. Jeffrey A. Boskovitch. The 25-year-old from Seven Hills, Ohio, had planned to apply to the local police department when he returned in October, family members said. He was engaged to be married.

Flags waved at half-staff throughout the town, and shops displayed “We Support Our Troops” stickers in their windows. The staff at the Amy Joy Donut shop, just a few blocks from the battalion’s headquarters, tucked tiny flags in baskets next to maple-sugar and cherry-filled pastries.

The battalion’s estimated 800 members, divided into five companies, deployed to Iraq this year. About a quarter of them train at Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb, military officials said. Most of the 19 killed this week are believed to be from Ohio.

Military service has a long tradition here. It is a popular option in a town where most of the jobs are in manufacturing and the median family income is just over $53,000 a year.

And residents are proud of their service.

Niki Straubhaar said that most Sunday mornings, as she picked up a hose to water her garden, she would peek over the fence and watch the recruits train. Sometimes, she saw members of the Junior ROTC running drills and doing push-ups in uniforms that seemed just a touch too big.

Sometimes, those taking part were members of the battalion’s Headquarters & Service Company -- local police officers, factory workers and college students preparing for battle.

“It wasn’t a matter of if they’d go, but when,” said Straubhaar, 39, who works at a local credit union.

“I knew their faces. Everyone understood the risk. But there’s a difference between understanding the risk and seeing the reality of it in the paper.”

Now Straubhaar says she can’t bear to watch the local news.

Each report of casualties tests the patience of residents, who say the sacrifice that their families and neighbors made to military campaigns has become too painful.

That frustration has been heightened by the deaths this week, and many express a growing fear for those overseas.

Many in Brook Park know someone killed this week in Iraq. Mayor Mark J. Elliott said he spent the morning on the phone with a close friend whose son was stationed in Iraq.

“We are grieving and stunned,” Elliott said. “What else could we feel?”

Rosemary Palmer told reporters that military officials had said her son -- Lance Cpl. Edward Schroeder, 23, of Cleveland -- was among those killed.

The family of Lance Cpl. Daniel N. Deyarmin Jr., who died in the Monday attack, said he had turned 22 last weekend.

Deyarmin, who played high school football in the area, enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating in 2002. He had planned to open his own real estate firm when he returned.

Lance Cpl. Brian P. Montgomery, 26, also was killed Monday. Montgomery’s younger brother Eric is in the same unit. Family members told local reporters that Eric was bringing his brother’s body home to northeastern Ohio.

“We can’t talk right now,” said a woman who answered the phone at the Montgomery house. “We have too much planning to do for the memorial service.”

One former Marine, however, is determined to go overseas.

Donald Morgan, 21, stood in front of battalion headquarters, remembering those who died.

He said he joined the Marines in 2002, but left after being injured during a military exercise in 2003.

He knew both Montgomery and Boskovitch.

“I was checking on my reenlistment paperwork when I heard they’d been killed,” Morgan said. “I know if I reenlist, I’m going to Iraq. I don’t care. I need to be there. I should have been there, with them, when this happened.”

His brothers, 19-year-old twins James and Ryan, have joined the Marines. One is at boot camp. The other will leave for boot camp later this month.

Morgan’s mother says she prays that she won’t lose all three sons.

“I’ve given them all my sons, all my children,” said Lynn Morgan, 46. “I have to trust that they will come back.”