Saturday, January 30, 2010
COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio Marine Reserve unit that was devastated by losses in Iraq in 2005 will be getting ready for its first large-scale deployment since its return.
Columbus-based Lima Company, a branch of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, will leave in coming months on a yearlong assignment that could include time in Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, said Maj. Paul Greenberg, spokesman for the Marine Forces Reserve.
Lima Company lost 16 Marines and seven service members while in Iraq, including nine Marines killed in one roadside bombing.
Greenberg said Lima Company was officially notified of the coming mobilization last week, but that dates, locations and the number of Marines involved may not be known for weeks.
Marine Reserve units typically have a five-year gap between yearlong deployments. A smaller group of 10 Lima Company reservists headed back to Iraq in 2008, including nine who had fought in 2005.
About 160 Marines deployed with Lima Company to Iraq in 2005. The unit’s first casualty came May 8, and by Aug. 3, 16 Marine reservists were dead.
When the unit returned to Columbus in October, it was greeted by a 20-mile parade route of flag-waving, cheering supporters.
In 2007, a monument honoring the unit was dedicated at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base. And in parts of 2008 and 2009, life-size paintings of the 23 killed were displayed at the Ohio Statehouse and the Cincinnati Museum Center.
The unit also was the subject of A&E Television Network’s 2006 documentary film, “Combat Diary: The Marines of Lima Company,” which used personal video shot by the Marines.