Marine unit hit hard by casualties in Iraq deploys again

Brook Park: Marine unit hit hard by casualties in Iraq deploys again
Paul Thomas

BROOK PARK -- Nilda Bermudez fought back tears as her 23-year-old grandson left Ohio Sunday for deployment to the Middle East for the second time in five years.


"I told him, 'don't move until you ask God to protect every move you do,'" Bermudez said. "I know how bad it was the last time. We hope this time they all come back."

In 2005, the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines lost 46 Marines and two Navy Corpsmen during a tour in Iraq.

On Sunday, before hundreds of family members, the Marine reserve unit based in Brook Park lined up and filed out of the city recreation center to board buses.

Weeks of training in California await the Marines before they travel to Afghanistan on a security mission.

All five of Gary Scott's sons have served in the military.

On Sunday, as Scott's youngest son headed out to his second deployment, he thought about the tradegy the 3rd Battalion 25th Marines endured five years ago.
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Marine unit hit hard by casualties in Iraq deploys again