[armedcitizen]

Lima Company is a Marine Reserve unit based in my town--Columbus, OH. They are a part of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment. The battalion lost 20 marines this week, 9 of those being from Lima Co. Since being deployed in March, Lima Co. has lost 16 of it's 160 members. They have literally been decimated.

I don't mean to start a debate on the war in Iraq. I simply ask that, regardless of your views on the war, you remember these service members and their families in prayer.

Thank you.

Here are some links with more info:

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/08/04/20050804-A1-00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164699,00.html

[Joey2]

No, they have not been "decimated". 16 out of 160 is light.

Try going in with 150-200 men and comming out with less than half. WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. So far the causalties have been very light, but it is going to get worse as linger "over there". :mad:

[shermacman]

Prayers for them, their brothers-in-arms, their friends and their families.

[armedcitizen]

edited to preserve the original intent of this thread.

[SIGarmed]

What they aren't telling you is that there is an unnamed operation going on along the Euphrates river all the way up to the border with Syria. The Marines didn't die riding around eating ice cream. They died in operations fighting against an enemy stronghold. They were on the offensive, something which the press many times never mentions.

That doesn't make it better, but I wish the press would also point out how lopsided the casualties are for the enemy. It's as if they purposely want to hurt morale.....oh wait a minute.

[Mal H]

armedcitizen, very sorry to hear that. It's especially sad when so many are taken from a single community. Almost like losing several members of one family - one extended family.





Joey2 - I doubt that you meant your post to come off the way it did. You tend to demean the memory of the 16 by saying it wasn't so much, one is too many. BTW, you need to look up the definition of 'decimated'; it does mean 1/10th of a population is killed. The problem with that word is that it is used incorrectly considerably more often than it is used correctly.

[1911 guy]

With so many of the 16 being from one area (I work in Cleveland) almost everyone either knew one of these Marines or knows their family and friends.
Mal H, you beat me to it. 16 of 160 is armedcitizen put it, "literaly decimated".

[GT]

Joey2 - Decimated means one in ten of a unit is killed (it was a Roman punishment for disobedience in the ranks).

So the poster is right they have been decimated.

G

[rgs1975]

Joey2 - Decimated means one in ten of a unit is killed (it was a Roman punishment for disobedience in the ranks). Yes, the poster was grammatically correct. However, I seriously doubt the poster was using the word decimated with it's original Roman definition. I think it much more likely that the poster intended the use of the word to convey thoughts and images of this company being destroyed or brought to its knees or being rendered incapable of fighting on by their casualties. With the loses this company has taken none of that is true. Yes to the families of those lost it is an unexplainable trajedy but as a fighting unit the company has not been weakened. I would guess their resolve has only been strengthened. I ask the poster to look at casualties from WWI or WWII or Korea or Vietnam to see battles that left U.S. military units "decimated", using the word in the way the poster obviously intended.

[Gunsnrovers]

Actually, in both the literal and figurative sense decimated is correct.

10% KIA literally and in May 2005 1st platoon alone took 60% casualties. Figuratively. The unit has 25 KIA in 2005.

When you talk about 50~60% casualties in previous conflicts, the vast % of these are WIA, not KIA. 10% KIA, especially in such a short period, is a very high number.

Prayers and thoughts are with their loved ones.

[Mal H]

I think it much more likely that the poster intended the use of the word to convey thoughts and images of this company being destroyed or brought to its knees or being rendered incapable of fighting on by their casualties. With the loses this company has taken none of that is true.I think you're wrong.


None the less people, we all seem to be getting hung up on the etymology of a word used in a post, and used correctly in the context of that post. Let's get back to the big picture and forget that the word was included.

[Hobie]

I was not aware that L Co. had in fact been decimated. Still, it should be combat effective as defined in the doctrinal publications.

I pray everyday for all the young men and women who've taken up our defense. I've lost 3 personal comrades in this war and am fully aware of the loss those families feel.

[grampster]

Godspeed, brave young men and women. For if it were not you who would step up to defend the innocent, then who?

My litho of "The Wall", which hangs in my garage so that I am able to look at it each and every time I park my car, shimmers a bit each day as I think I can see another row of hero's looking over the shoulders of my lost friends.

[carebear]

Semper Fi, Lima.

We lost one of our guys (LCpl. Fraser, E Co. 4th Recon) in that Amtrac.

My sympathy and gratitude to the families.

[Leatherneck]

If I know Marines, I'd not like to be an insurgent and encounter any Jarheads from "Lucky Lima" for a while.

No better friend, and no worse enemy.

Get some, Marines.

TC