[cincymarsdad]

Odds worked against local reserve unit

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Kevin Mayhood

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Military historians and veterans can’t recall when one military unit — particularly a reserve unit — lost so many from one area of Ohio in just a few days.

Four Marine reservists from central Ohio towns were among the five killed from L (Lima) Company, 3 rd Battalion, 25 th Regiment in western Iraq last week. The fifth was from Clermont County, near Cincinnati. Two others, attached to but not part of the unit, also were killed in the fighting.

While the loss might be unprecedented here, other towns host memorials to units devastated in battles in past wars.

Sending a reserve unit into combat increases the chances that casualties will be from one region. Regular military units have members from all over the country, while "reserve units tend to have members all from the same area," said John Guilmartin, a military historian at Ohio State University.

Cpl. Dustin Derga, 24, of Pickerington, was killed in a battle with insurgents in Ubaydi on May 8.

On Wednesday, Lance Cpl. Wesley G. Davids, 20, of Dublin, died in an explosion in Karabilah, and Staff Sgt. Kendall Howard Ivy II, 28, of Galion, and Pfc. Christopher Dixon, 18, of Obetz, died when bombs exploded beneath their armored vehicles in Haban.

Allan R. Millett, also a professor of military history at OSU, commanded the unit before retiring in 1990. Had this been the Korean War, Millett said, the men would have been split up and mixed with others from across the country.

"Plenty from Columbus were killed and wounded in the Korean War, but not from one reserve unit."

At that time, the training among units varied greatly, and the idea was to assign the experienced with the less so. "Nobody wanted another Bedford Boys," Millett said.

The Bedford Boys were from Bedford, Va., a town of about 5,000. During World War II, 135 of Bedford’s young men entered the military. On the beaches of Normandy, 21 in Company A, 116 th Infantry Regiment, 29 th Division died within 20 minutes. Two others, from other companies, also were killed during the invasion. Military policy was changed to prohibit such groupings in the active ranks. But that policy doesn’t hold for reserves.

Company C of the 13 th Artillery of the Kentucky National Guard was assigned to hold a hill called Firebase Tomahawk in Vietnam. The North Vietnamese overran the hill in a night attack on June 19, 1969. Ten Guardsmen from Bardstown, Ky., were killed, military reports said.

The military’s theory is: "The training has gotten so good, you can deploy them and keep them as a unit," Millett said. "Even though there’s a risk of mass casualties from one area, the thinking is you’re better off to go to war with those you know. They trained together . . . it’s important to know what others can and can’t do."

Millett cautioned people not to just look at the numbers killed or wounded, but to pay attention to the individuals.

"You’ll see how each one of these Marines were pretty good kids."