The news reached Ohio long before the names of the dead. A thunderous explosion, an armored vehicle blown apart, another clutch of reservists from the 3rd Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment killed in the Iraqi maelstrom.

Fourteen men who left behind their day jobs to report to duty died in an insurgent bombing yesterday, bringing to 19 the number killed over the past three days and 44 since the unit began its current tour in January.

The deaths yesterday appear likely to put Ohio behind only California and Texas as the state with the most casualties since the war began in March 2003.

"Every day now in Columbus, it's just a little more personal," said Mike Brown, spokesman for Mayor Michael Coleman, whose son serves with Lima Company, based in the Ohio capital and one of five companies — three from Ohio — that make up the 3rd Battalion. "It's been a rough day with a lot of tension."

Brown spoke of recent military funerals that have been solemn, stately and all too frequent.

"Majestic," he said, "and absolutely overwhelming in sadness."

Officers at Lima Company's headquarters mobilized to deliver news that 150 families were praying not to hear. Marines rang doorbells and regretted to inform mothers, fathers, siblings and spouses.

"Right now, we're making notifications," 1st Sgt. James Halbig said late yesterday afternoon. He estimated that it was the fifth time he had been through the drill, but things blur.

"It's still pretty tough. You're the strong one," Halbig said. "You have to show the strength of the Marine Corps, while in dealing with families you have to be compassionate. You want to grab them and hug them, but at this time they just need someone to be strong for them."

The deaths have come in clusters, usually hitting one company in particular in the 3rd Battalion, based in the Cleveland suburb of Brook Park, almost as if the unit is being chipped away one block at a time.

For example, nine of the 14 Marine deaths yesterday came from Lima Company, a band of brothers that received national attention in May when eight members were killed in fierce fighting on the Syrian border. Its erstwhile nickname of "Lucky" Lima no longer was apt.

"Let me ask you, is the 3rd Battalion of the 25th Marines fighting the entire war?" demanded Ken Hiltz, an Ohio police officer and former Marine who has friends in Lima Company. "This battalion is decimated. I'm just losing count."

"A lot of people are just numb," said Isolde Zierk, whose son, Guy, 29, is a sergeant in Lima Company. "Everyone's asking, 'Why do we have so many casualties?' I tell them I just don't know.

"This has been the worst day of my life," she added. "First the six and then the 14. It's just a knock in the stomach."

Military officials initially said all six Marines killed Monday were from the Ohio-based unit, but the Pentagon announced late yesterday that one of the victims was attached to a Texas-based battalion.

The attacks and the fatalities have come in numbers no one could have imagined when Lima Company mustered. The unit drew a particularly hard-fought slice of turf and, as one Marine mother said, "they have been involved in pretty much every mission in that part of Iraq."

"It's getting to be very tough," said Jody Davids, whose son Wesley, a Lima Company lance corporal, was killed by a roadside bomb May 11. "It's just so concentrated in this part of Ohio."

Lt. Col. Kevin Rush, 40, site commander of the battalion's headquarters in Brook Park, said yesterday that the seemingly frequent deaths are tied to the unit's duty in Anbar province, a vast desert where it's easy for rebels to hide and plot.

"That's a high number for a battalion in general," Rush said of the unit's Marines killed in action. "Every battalion is different out there, and some don't see the level of combat that the 3/25 is seeing."

The sorrow in Brook Park, population 21,000, was painfully clear yesterday among the line of customers sipping their morning coffee at the counter of a doughnut shop down the street from the 3rd Battalion's headquarters. Nearly everyone at the counter said they knew someone who was connected to the battalion.

"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 had held her coffee.

"Tell Bush to get our soldiers out of there now before any more of our soldiers die. This is getting to be ridiculous."

Rosemary Palmer said she and her husband were talking about plans to attend funerals of the reservists killed Monday when the Marines came to tell her family about the death of their son, Lance Cpl. Edward Schroeder, 23, one of the 14 killed yesterday.

Palmer said her son joined the military in 2002 despite her opposition — she wouldn't even let him play with toy guns while he was growing up.

"He was persuaded that if he joined the Marines he would get a new sense of purpose," Palmer said.

Compiled from The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press.