Iraq attacks hit Ohio military families hard

A rising toll
Jeff Mers, commander of a VFW post that has raised money and sent care packages to Lima Company, said that even before this week’s attacks, he and other veterans were dazed from attending funerals of those killed in Iraq.

“I think I’ve been to nine of these just in central Ohio in the past few months,” he said outside Lima Company’s headquarters.

The front door of the Montgomery family home in Willoughby east of Cleveland is decorated with two blue stars, one for each of the sons who served with the Marines in Iraq.

Eric Montgomery, 21, will be coming home soon — but only to escort the body of his older brother, 26-year-old Lance Cpl. Brian Montgomery, among the six killed in Monday’s attack.

Palmer said she and her husband, Paul Schroeder, last spoke with their son about a week ago. He said he was tired of flushing insurgents out of the same places, just to have them reappear with better weapons.

“He said the closer they got to the time to come home, the less it was worth it,” she said.

Battalion has storied history
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. Members, based in this blue-collar Cleveland suburb of 21,000, were activated in January and went to Iraq in March.

Lt. Col. Kevin Rush, part of the family notification detail, said the volunteers were aware of the risks.

Jamie-andrea Yanak / AP Michael Davis, 5, right, and Jessica Davis, 6, wait while their grandmother Marie Gallagher places a flag at the fence outside the 25th Marine Regiment's 3rd Battalion Headquarters & Service Company, in Brook Park, Ohio, Wednesday.

“Everyone who joins the battalion knows what they are getting into,” he said. “It’s infantry. They are at the front line.”

Donald Morgan, 21, of Parma Heights, another Cleveland suburb, just finished a tour of duty and is planning to re-enlist. He had yet to serve in Iraq but said going was “not a problem.”

“All Marines are brothers,” he said, placing two flags amid flowers, crosses and stuffed animals at display outside battalion headquarters. “I only took a moment to reflect on it. We all have a job to do.”

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