CAMP PENDLETON ? Parents of Marines serving in Iraq often must struggle harder to get information about their loved ones than military spouses do, something that is especially nerve-racking during these days of intensive combat.

In the past week, at least 15 Marines have died and scores have been wounded in heavy fighting. Six of those killed were in their teens.

With escalating violence across Iraq, the danger facing 19,000 San Diego-based Marines is expected to remain high for now, military officials say.

It's an agonizing time for many parents who dwell on the danger.

"As a parent, we are not given any information, except when our children don't make it home," Christie Hunt of Tucson said yesterday.

"They should have an information line of some kind that is updated on a regular basis," said Hunt, whose 20-year-old son is with the 1st Marine Division from Camp Pendleton. "There are lots of us moms in the same positions."

Julie Callahan, who manages Marine Moms Online, said the Marines don't purposely shut out parents, but it happens sometimes.

"I wouldn't say that parents are treated any worse, but I think the military over the last few years has focused on keeping dependents happy," Callahan said. "Marine programs, such as the key volunteer program, are set up for dependents, not parents. It's possible for parents to get into the key volunteer program, but young, single Marines don't usually sign their parents up."

With an estimated 5,000 Marine Moms Online members around the world, Callahan knows what's on their minds.

"In the last three days, with losing so many Marines, the mothers are really, really worried," she said. "There is a lot of grief for the Marines lost."

There is also anger at the news media.

"There seems to be a lot less information from the media than during the war last year," said Callahan, of Bloomington, Ill. "And then CNN and FOX are only reporting the bad things going on over there and not the good."

Yet sometimes, parents try to avoid information overload.

Some parents, like Kim Shearon from Oklahoma City, who has three family members from San Diego County in Iraq, stay calm by keeping their distance from the radio and TV.

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