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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel F. Swaim
Died November 10, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
19, of Yadkinville, N.C.; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Nov. 10 of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces during Operation Steel Curtain in Karabilah, Iraq.
N.C.-based Marine dies in Iraq
The Associated Press
YADKINVILLE, N.C. — A Camp Lejeune-based Marine who began his first tour of duty in Iraq a few months ago has been killed, his family said.
Lance Cpl. Daniel Freeman Swaim, 19, was killed Nov. 10 while searching for insurgents outside Husayba, an Iraqi town near the Syrian border. Family members said he was killed by an explosive device while participating in Operation Steel Curtain, meant to stop foreign fighters from slipping into Iraq by way of Syria.
Swaim’s parents, Michael and Rebecca Swaim, learned of their son’s death Nov. 10. On Nov. 11, they described him as a smart, driven man who believed in his mission.
Swaim joined the Marine Corps last summer after graduating from Forbush High School with high honors. He began his first tour of duty in Iraq in August.
“He was always into things like survival skills,” Rebecca Swaim said of her only child. “He always wanted to be a Marine. He just thought they were always the first in the fight. And that’s true, they were.”
He always wanted to be productive and believed that fighting in Iraq was the most productive thing he could do, she said.
“I feel he was very satisfied with what he was doing once he got to Iraq,” said his mother, who described him as her best friend. The two of them did many things together, she said, including going to movies, going shopping and eating out.
Charles Cregger, Swaim’s godfather, said Swaim could have avoided combat, but chose not to.
“He was one of the best this country had to offer,” Cregger said.
For Cregger, who comes from a family of Marines, Swaim’s death has a special significance because of its timing. Thursday — the day Swaim died — marked the 230th anniversary of the creation of the Marine Corps. And Friday was Veterans Day.
Funeral plans are undetermined.