Daniel Daly, Marine hero twice awarded the Medal of Honor

Nov 10 , 2025

Daniel Daly, Marine hero twice awarded the Medal of Honor

The charge was desperate. The enemy pressed hard. Guns blazed, men screamed, and chaos swallowed every second. Standing tall amidst all that hell was Sgt. Major Daniel Joseph Daly—unshaken, relentless, a force no bullet could stop.

Born of Grit and Iron Resolve

Daniel Daly wasn’t molded from silk and soft hands. Born in 1873 in Glen Cove, New York, the son of Irish immigrants, he grew up knowing hardship. The streets, the workaday grind, the never-ending struggle—these forged a backbone as tough as any steel.

He carried a faith not often shouted but lived deep inside. Catholic roots gave him a moral compass. Duty wasn’t just orders—it was sacred. He once said, “The Marine is not a man who can give up. That’s the way God made us.” This wasn’t bravado. It was belief. Redemptive purpose wrapped in discipline and sacrifice.

The Boxer Rebellion: Valor Ignited

At age 26, Daly found himself in China, caught in the bloody maelstrom of the Boxer Rebellion (1900). The Legation Quarter of Peking was under siege by thousands of attackers—Boxers and Qing troops hell-bent on wiping out foreign presences.

On July 13, 1900, a desperate pickup mission was ordered—to retrieve wounded comrades isolated across open ground. Daly, a private then, charged through a storm of bullets to carry wounded men to safety not once, but twice.

The citation reads:

“For extraordinary heroism in action on June 20-22 and July 12–13, 1900, in China.”

Medal of Honor awarded.

Two trips through a gauntlet of death.

He showed an iron will, shatters of fear replaced by gritty resolve.

World War I: Holding the Line at Belleau Wood

Fast forward to 1918. Sgt. Major Daly, in his mid-40s, was one of the oldest Marines in France along the Western Front. Yet age was no barrier when the words “Hold the line!” came down.

During the brutal Battle of Belleau Wood, enemy forces surged forward, determined to break the Allied lines. The fight was ferocious—mud-churned, blood-soaked, nightmarish. Enemy machine guns shredded the air. Tanks rolled in thunder.

When his machine gun section faltered, Daly stormed forward under fire and reportedly shouted what would become immortalized in Marine lore:

“Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?”

The cry wasn’t just bravado—it sparked a counterattack that stopped the Huns dead.

His Medal of Honor citation for that day, June 1918, reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.”

He held his position, machine gun firing relentlessly. The line didn’t break.

Recognition Etched in Blood and Brass

Daniel Daly is one of only nineteen men in U.S. history awarded the Medal of Honor twice—and the only Marine to earn it in two separate conflicts.

The first for his Boxer Rebellion heroism. The second for his valor at Belleau Wood. He also earned the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Cross.

Voices from the Corps remember him as a legend long before the term was cheapened. Lt. Col. George Barnett, a Marine Corps Commandant, called Daly:

“The epitome of the fighting Marine.”

His medals tell a story of fearless leadership, grit, and relentless sacrifice.

The Legacy Carved in Flesh and Faith

Sgt. Major Daniel Daly’s story isn’t a dusty relic. It’s a battle hymn for anyone who knows what it means to face overwhelming odds and still stand. He lived the warrior’s paradox—violent mettle, tempered by conviction.

His legacy echoes this scripture:

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” —1 Corinthians 16:13

He fought not for glory, but because the fight was there. For brothers beside him. For country. For something greater than himself.

In a world quick to forget blood-stained deeds, Sgt. Major Daly’s courage burns bright and unyielding. The man who stood in the face of hell, refusing to yield, whispers a brutal truth to all who listen—courage is forged in chaos, faith is hardened in fire, and true sacrifice never fades.