Nathan Elrod remembered

As a boy, he'd roam the woods near his Salisbury home with paintball guns, playing war games with his buddies.

At East Rowan High School in Salisbury, Nathan Elrod was a soccer player and four-year Junior ROTC cadet.

After graduating in 2004, Elrod and his best pal, Bryan Wylie, joined the Marines together and found themselves experiencing war games with real bullets and bombs.

Saturday, Lance Cpl. Nathan Ross Elrod, 20, died when an explosive device hit his Humvee during combat in Iraq's Anbar province. Three other Camp Lejeune-based Marines also died: Lance Cpl. Clifford R. Collinsworth, 20, of Chelsea, Mich., Lance Cpl. Nicholas J. Manoukian, 22, of Lathrup Village, Mich., and Cpl. Joshua C. Watkins, 25, of Jacksonville, Fla.

The attack came about a week after six Marines from Elrod's division -- 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division -- died there.

"Nathan was always a credit to the Marine Corps," said Col. Rollins Collins, Elrod's ROTC instructor at East Rowan. "Since I first knew him, he always was looking to do some sort of military service."

Military dream

With his love of rappelling cliffs and playing paintball, the strapping, 6-foot-3-inch Elrod wanted to be an Army Ranger, but a recruiter swayed him to become a Marine.In August, he left for his second tour in Iraq.

He saw little action on his first tour, close friends Laurel Julian and Lauren McLelland said Monday.

On his first tour, Elrod wrote his friends often. But back in Iraq for another seven months, he was too busy to write, so he called whenever he could.

He called a week ago.

"I didn't want to get off the phone with him," Julian said. "He told me not to worry if I didn't hear from him for a couple of weeks. They were very busy.

"I told him I wasn't worried. I just missed him and I wanted him to come home."

McLelland met Elrod at an ROTC camp five years ago, and they became "soul mates," she said. They dated, but decided they'd make better best friends.

"Nathan was the one person I'd do anything for," said McLelland, a freshman at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk who called Elrod "Blondy." He called her "shorty."

"He was such a good guy. He always told me, `I can be the nicest guy ever, or the biggest jerk you ever met.' In five years, I never saw any jerk in him."

McLelland was on fall break in Maryland on Saturday when she got word about Elrod. She immediately drove home to be with her old friends and his family.

At an East Rowan soccer game Monday night, she and others bowed in silence during a tribute to Elrod.

Happy memories

McLelland said Elrod wasn't scared of dying. "He was just worried about what he was leaving behind," she said. "He hated to see his family suffer."

Elrod's family declined to comment Monday.

McLelland said details on the attack are still sketchy. She didn't know when Elrod's body would return to Salisbury.

Julian said Elrod was looking forward to returning in April and finishing his military service in 2007. He planned to become a diesel mechanic.

Sunday, Julian, who called Elrod "NateN," was in Elrod's room at his parents' house, watching videos of him on his digital camera. "It was weird to hear his voice and see him," she said. "It made me happy and sad. NateN made everyone happy."

From the Charlotte Observer

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Nathan R. Elrod killed in combat