LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) – An Ohio Navy reservist has turned to writing to memorialize his fellow service members who lost their lives while serving their country.
Taylor Cleveland, a Navy corpsman with the Third Battalion, 25th Marines, was stationed in Iraq in 2005. The Ohio-based Marine Reserve unit was deployed for nine months, and by the end of their deployment, the battalion had lost 46 Marines and two Navy corpsmen—the most casualties suffered by any single unit during the war.
Cleveland’s firsthand account of his time with the 3/25 is now the subject of his book, Mother’s Day, titled after the day his unit was ambushed. Several of his friends were killed or injured in the attack, including Cleveland himself. He said writing the book is his way of keeping their memory alive.
Several of his friends were killed or injured in the attack, including Cleveland himself.
“I just would like people to understand that these were largely young men from the state of Ohio who acted courageously beyond what anybody is really even aware of. Their sacrifice was incredible, and they were ours,” said Cleveland, author of Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day is available in paperback on Amazon. Cleveland is donating all proceeds from the book sales to "Feed Our Vets," a non-profit organization that provides food assistance to veterans and their families.
