It was the single deadliest roadside bombing in Iraq since the war began, and it happened to the same Marine Reserve battalion from Ohio that held the previous record.

Dave Zapotosky, Toledo Blade Eric Lynn Jr., 12, left, his mother Amanda Lynn, and her husband Eric Lynn, hold hands at a memorial site outside the Col. Justice M. Chambers U.S. Marine Corp. Reserve Center in Brook Park, Ohio, where the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines unit is based. Fourteen members of the group were killed in Iraq on Wednesday and six were killed on Monday. Click photo for larger image. Related coverage Obituary: Nathan S. Rock / Ohio Marine planned to become a police officer

Fourteen Marines from 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, were killed yesterday near the town of Haditha in western Iraq when the lightly armored amphibious assault vehicle in which they were riding was hit by a huge explosion. An Iraqi interpreter was killed as well, and another Marine was wounded.

Five of the six Marines killed Monday in a firefight with insurgents near Haditha were from the same battalion. And four others were killed in what previously had been the bloodiest roadside bombing, on May 11, when the amphibious assault vehicle in which they were riding also was struck by a roadside bomb.

So far, 37 Marines, including Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich of Westwood and Lance Cpl. Ryan Kovacicek of Washington, Pa., have been among the dead from the star-crossed battalion of 800 or so in Iraq since it arrived in March.

The Marine Corps was unable to confirm yesterday that this has been the most fatalities suffered by any battalion since the Fallujah assault in November, but a review of the Defense Department casualty list suggests that it is.

Dave Zapotosky, Toledo Blade Kathy McPheron, center, is comforted by Amanda Lynn, and her husband Eric Lynn, left, outside the Col. Justice M. Chambers U.S. Marine Corp. Reserve Center in Brook Park, Ohio, where the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines unit is based. Fourteen members of the group were killed in Iraq on Wednesday and six were killed on Monday. McPheron's daughter Shelley Tevis is engaged to Cpl. Jeff Boskovitch, who was killed on Monday. Click photo for larger image.

At 3rd Battalion headquarters in Brook Park, Ohio, a suburb about 10 miles southwest of Cleveland, families and neighbors yesterday anxiously awaited answers about the latest casualties.

"You never know who it could be. It could be your best friend; it could be your husband -- it could be anyone from here," Eleanor Matelski, 69, said as she angrily tore up a paper cup that held her morning coffee at a doughnut shop down the street from the 3rd Battalion headquarters.

Nine of the 14 Marines killed yesterday were from Lima Company, based in Columbus, Ohio. Identification of the 14 was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Lima Company bore the brunt of the May 11 bombing too.

The battalion's other companies are Kilo, based in Moundsville, W.Va.; India, based in Buffalo, N.Y.; and Weapons, based in Akron, Ohio.

Rex Lott, the 53-year-old father of Cpl. Billy Lott, a member of the Akron company, left work early yesterday to go to the reserve center to find out if his son was among the casualties. He said the past 24 hours had been rough, awaiting any word. "They expressed that they hadn't heard anything yet," said the elder Lott. "No news is good news as far as they're concerned."

A Kilo Company spokesman in Moundsville said the unit had no casualties. An India Company spokesman in Buffalo declined to comment.

Kathie McPheron of North Olmsted, Ohio, found out yesterday that her future son-in-law, Cpl. Jeff Boskovitch, was among those killed Monday. She had picked up a newspaper in the grocery store to read about him and began sobbing.

"It's been an emotional roller coaster," McPheron said. "Monday, we held out hope, and Tuesday, our worst fears were confirmed."

	Jamie-Andrea Yanak, Associated Press Michael Davis, 5, right, and Jessica Davis, 6, center, wait while their grandmother, Marie Gallagher places a flag yesterday at the fence outside the 25th Marine Regiment's 3rd Battalion Headquarters & Service Company, in Brook Park, Ohio. The battalion lost 14 Marines when their vehiclde was hit by a huge explosion. Click photo for larger image.

She stopped by the center to pin a letter on the chain-link fence next to a growing line of American flags and miniature crosses.

Her letter read: "Jeff: I love you sweetie. I could not have asked for a better man to marry my daughter. You made us all very proud of you. You will be missed more than words can say. Love always, Mom #2."

"He loved the military; he was so gung ho," she said of Boskovitch. Her daughter, Shelley Tevis, and he sometimes shopped at the local Target store, she said. "He was a kid at heart. She would turn around, and he would be stuck in the GI Joe [toy] aisle at Target."

Brook Park City Council Jim Wilson said the town was planning a memorial service soon. "We're a very patriotic town. We know everybody here," he said. "We've had ceremonies for when they left and when they came back." It seemed only fitting, he said, that another ceremony should be held for those who won't be coming home.