The chaos of war and the death of three Hawai'i Marines in a June 26 suicide bomb attack in Iraq was replaced this morning at Kane'ohe Bay by military order and quiet reflection on their loss.

About a dozen family members from the Mainland and American Samoa attended the memorial on the Marine Corps Base Hawai'i flightline.

Also present were hundreds of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment Marines in formation and in a canopied seating area.

Honored were Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai, 42; Capt. Philip J Dykeman, 38; and Cpl. Marcus W. Preudhomme at the "Remembering Our Fallen Comrades" service.

Galeai, one of the highest-ranking military members based in Hawai'i to be killed in Iraq, led 1,000 Marines and sailors. About 20 Iraqis also were killed in the bomb blast.

With military precision, Marines reverently carried the helmets, rifles and boots of their fallen comrades and arranged them in a combat memorial with helmet on the upturned rifle.

"In a way, they seem paltry monuments to the sacrifices of these three men," Lt. Col. Patrick Cashman told those assembled. "But these markers are more powerful than any monument. This is how Marines say goodbye."

Cashman said the combat memorials are "reserved for our comrades and brothers who fight with us and die with us," and send the message to fellow Marines: "Remember what these men did for you."

Cashman, who was the battalion's executive officer in Iraq, said 23 Hawai'i Marines were killed on the 2nd Battalion's last deployment to Iraq. This time, the battalion lost the three Marines remembered today.

Each of the fallen also had been honored recently by the Hawai'i state Legislature with the Hawaii Medal of Honor.

The "Island Warriors" deployed to Iraq in February 2008, and returned to Hawai'i in August.

Marines officials said the battalion conducted more than $10 million in project repairs for schools, medical clinics and numerous other civil projects. The Marines also worked with and trained more than 500 Iraqi Security Forces.