Army Sgt. Daniel Lim

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Daniel Lim, 23, of Cypress, Calif.

Sgt. Lim was assigned to 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; died July 24, 2010 in Qalat, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his military vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Conrad A. Mora, Spc. Joseph A. Bauer and Pfc. Andrew L. Hand.

A Cypress soldier serving in Afghanistan was killed on Saturday, the Department of Defense said.

Army Sgt. Daniel Lim, 23, was killed along with three other soldiers, when their vehicle was attacked by insurgents with an improvised explosive device in Qalat, Afghanistan.

Lim graduated from Pacifica High School in Garden Grove in 2005. He also attended Bell Intermediate School and Patton Elementary School, both in Garden Grove. He took rigorous academic courses in high school and was a solid student, said Alan Trudell, spokesman for the Garden Grove Unified School District. He was a member of Korean Martyrs Catholic Center in Westminster.

Lim enlisted April 13, 2006, and reported to Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., for initial entry training, then to Fort Sill, Okla. He reported to his first duty assignment Aug. 27, 2006, at Camp Coiner, Korea, and later to Camp Casey, Korea.

After serving 31 months in Korea, he reported to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., on May 1, 2009, and was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade. The battalion deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2009. This was his first combat deployment.

Several messages expressing condolences were posted on the 17th Fires Brigade page on Facebook. "All our thoughts and prayers are with the families during this hard hard time," one person wrote. "God Bless you all."

Lim is among at least 56 members of the military from Orange County who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002, according to Orange County Register records. Among them are two other men from Cypress. Spc. Edgar Potayre Daclan Jr., 24, Cypress, died Sept. 10, 2004 in Balad, Iraq. Pfc. Bryce Edmund Gautier, 22, Cypress, died April 10, 2009, in Mosul, Iraq.

His godfather, Han Oh, said that Lim was studious, close with his sister and a devout Catholic. "He had an abundance of love," Oh said. "He loved his country, his family, his sister and God."

When Lim was home on leave in June, Oh recalled a conversation they shared at lunch, the day before Lim had to return to Afghanistan. Lim told his godfather that he had to return to protect his soldiers. "Protect, that was his very word," Oh said. "He was a great man." He loved riding motorcycles and having fun. He loved being with family and friends.

Spc. Javintroy Lewis, 21, of Texas, remembered Lim as a good soldier who looked forward to starting his own family. The two had been friends for about two years, riding motorcycles together. The last time they rode, Lim was on a Kawasaki 600. Lewis said that Lim enlisted because he wanted to make it on his own. "He was very energetic and lively. He always wanted to have fun," said Lewis, who served in the same unit with Lim. "He wanted you to have fun with him. He never left anyone behind."

As U.S. flags flew Tuesday from several homes in the Lim family's Yorba Linda neighborhood, tributes also appeared on the web for the four soldiers. "Everyday that passes is another day closer to seeing our departed brothers again," wrote fellow soldier Christian Baeumler of Anaheim on Lim's Facebook page. "R.I.P you will never be forgotten.

Army Sgt. Daniel Lim was killed in action on 7/24/10.