Marine from Charlotte killed in Iraq (Cliff Golla)

After graduating from Providence High School in 2003, Cliff Golla didn't know what he wanted to do.

He took a chance as a Marine.

And at boot camp graduation at Parris Island, S.C., where Golla spent his 18th birthday, his family saw a changed man.

"It was like he found himself," said his older sister, Lynette Ingram of Charlotte. "He felt closer to us; he didn't mind if we hugged him and kissed him. Cliff never felt the Marines necessarily was his calling.

"But he thought it would be good for him."

On Friday, 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Golla -- the only son of Polish immigrants -- died near Habbaniyah in central Iraq in a roadside bombing. He was serving a second tour in Iraq, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, Lima Company, 2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune.

Details were sketchy Saturday. But Golla's family and friends said two Marine officers came to the Charlotte home of his mother, Yvonna, late Friday with the news.

George Richardson, a family friend, said Golla was leading his squad of 10 men on a foot patrol to root out explosive devices when an explosive device was detonated by insurgents.

"It was an ambush," Richardson said. "They were close to a field base medical facility and tried to save him. But they couldn't."

Golla had just returned to Iraq in July for his second tour.

He moved to Charlotte with his family about 1988, when Golla was 3, his sister said.

His father, Chris, immigrated to America in 1980, moving to Buffalo, N.Y., where he had relatives. His mother wasn't allowed to leave Poland at the time and eventually had to sneak out of the country to Sweden before coming to the United States in 1982.

A year later, Lynette was born. Fifteen months after that, Cliff was born. They have a younger sister, Scarlett, who is almost 15.

Cliff and Lynette went to Northwest School of the Arts. But for his senior year, Cliff transferred to Providence High.

His sister and friends described Golla as a prankster who always encouraged them to strive to do better. He was something of a matchmaker, too, having introduced Lynette and her husband, Wayne Ingram.

"In high school, the girls wouldn't stay away from him," Lynette Ingram said.

Golla's mother said her son was a rebellious teenager and she constantly urged him to do something with his life, Richardson said she told him.

"So he did -- he joined the Marines," Richardson said. "They say in three years it was a magical transformation."

Golla called his mother a week ago with news that a comrade had died. "He said he carried him all the way back to base," Richardson said.

Golla's tour was to end in February, and then he was scheduled to return home for more training, Ingram said.

Read the rest at the Charlotte Observor

Related Link:
Marine Killed on 2nd Tour of Iraq