Daniel Daly's Two Medals of Honor at Tientsin and Belleau Wood

Dec 21 , 2025

Daniel Daly's Two Medals of Honor at Tientsin and Belleau Wood

Blood on his hands. Grit in his soul. Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly stood alone when the enemy surged, bullets whizzing, death pressing close. In the chaos of Tientsin, China, his voice cut through the madness: “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” And damn it if that roar didn’t hold the line. Few men wear valor like a second skin. Daly bled it, breathed it, earned it—twice over.

The Blood That Made the Warrior

Born in Glen Cove, New York, 1873, Daniel Joseph Daly grew up rough—like many kids from a hard town. That steel forged him, and faith sharpened him. He lived by a warrior’s creed tinged with humility and grit. A devout Catholic, Daly carried more than a rifle on the battlefield: he carried belief in a higher justice, a purpose beyond death and destruction.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) was not just scripture to him—it was a code, a promise he kept with every step forward.

Daly enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1899, a fresh recruit stepping into a world of war and unyielding hardship. He was lean and tough, a man built for the brutal truth of combat, ready to meet the hell that awaited overseas.

The Battle That Defined Him

Boxer Rebellion, 1900. The foreign legations under siege in China. Sgt. Daly holed up with 56 Marines guarding a railroad station northwest of Tientsin. Outnumbered, outgunned. The Chinese Boxer forces swarmed. The order was to hold, to stand fast—no retreat.

When the enemy approached, Daly’s calm broke into primal fury. Alone, he scaled the wall, gripping a rifle, and held his ground furiously. It wasn’t just defense; it was defiance against the tide. His sheer bravery stopped a riotous charge, buying his unit seconds that turned into survival. His Medal of Honor citation reads:

“For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in battle near Tientsin, China, July 13, 1900.”[¹]

Fast forward to World War I. France, 1918. The storm of war had transformed. Now a seasoned combat leader, Daly was Sergeant Major with the 6th Marine Regiment. At Belleau Wood, a savage crucible, his voice became legend. When his unit faltered under deadly fire, Daly’s bitter challenge sparked men back into the fight.

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

Those words didn’t just yell into the wind—they forced a stand that shaped history.[²] He fought in bloody trenches soaked with mud and brotherhood, enduring shell shock, clearing enemy positions, leading charges that carried death and hope in equal measure.

Recognition Worn Like Battle Scars

Two Medals of Honor. Twice recommended for the nation’s highest praise. His first came from valor in the Boxer Rebellion; the second was awarded for actions on the battlefields of WWI. He also earned the Navy Cross and countless other decorations.

Generals called him “unsurpassed” in courage and endurance. His fellow Marines revered him not for medals, but for relentless leadership, his refusal to yield. Commandant Wendell C. Neville said of Daly, “He was the marine’s marine.”

Yet Daly held no illusions. He spoke plainly about the cost of war:

“You grab ’em by the belt and bring ’em to hand-to-hand. That’s the only way to fight.”

No glamor, no false glory—just brutal truth.

Legacy Forged in Fire and Faith

Daly’s story is more than history. It’s a testament to a warrior’s soul, forged in blood and bound by faith. He embodied courage not as an abstraction, but as raw, relentless action. His life showed the weight of sacrifice—how a man can be broken and rebuilt again through battle and belief.

His final years were quieter, but the legacy never faded. Marine Corps lore teaches recruits about Daly’s fearlessness, his voice echoing in barracks and hearts—“Do you want to live forever?” Not a taunt, but a demand: to live with purpose beyond fear.

His sacrifice speaks louder than monuments. It whispers in every fight for justice, in every wounded warrior rising again. In a world quick to forget the price of freedom, Daly’s legacy reminds us that valor is both burden and blessing.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Sgt. Maj. Daniel Daly did not seek glory, but he earned it—scarred, battle-worn, and unbreakable. A true legend stands not in medals, but in how he inspires us to face our own battles—with fearless hearts and unwavering faith.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division – Medal of Honor Recipients: Daniel J. Daly 2. Hampton Sides, Ghost Soldiers; John J. Reber Jr., Into the Fight: U.S. Marines in WWII, plus primary citations archived at the National Archives