Democrat and Chronicle -- A 38-year-old Marine from Brockport was killed Thursday in Iraq along with his commanding officer and another Marine, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.



Capt. Philip J. Dykeman died during combat in Al Anbar province, the military said. He was the leader of Fox Company in the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Also killed were Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai, 42, of Pago Pago, American Samoa, the commanding officer of the Hawaii-based battalion of more than 1,000 Marines and sailors; and 23-year-old Sgt. Marcus Preudhomme, of North Miami Beach, Fla., an administrative clerk with the battalion. About 20 Iraqis also died in the attack.

The three are believed to have been killed in the town of Karmah in Anbar province, about 30 miles west of Baghdad in a suicide bomb attack.



The attack reportedly happened when a suicide bomber dressed in a police uniform detonated an explosive belt during a meeting of tribal sheiks and community leaders opposed to al-Qaida in Iraq, The Associated Press said.

The bombing occurred just two days before U.S. officials planned to formally hand over security responsibility for Anbar to the Iraqis, marking a major milestone in the transformation of a province that had been the most violent in Iraq.



The handover was postponed today — but because of weather, not the attack, officials said.



Dykeman and the other two Marines are the battalion's first fatalities in this deployment, which started in February. The battalion is set to return in August.



Dykeman joined the Marines in June 1991 and came to Hawaii in May 2007. He has been awarded a host of medals, including the Purple Heart. According to a posting on the U.S. Central Command Web site, he was a native of Central Square.