Nov 06 , 2025

Daniel J. Daly Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

Blood on the wire. Smoke choking the sky. Sgt. Major Daniel J. Daly stood unyielding—alone, outnumbered—his eyes fixed on the enemy charge. They came like a storm, drawn to the sound of fury and iron will. Amid a hail of bullets and chaos, he held the line. No recoil. No hesitation. Just raw, warrior grit.

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The Forge of a Marine

Born in Glen Cove, New York, in 1873, Daniel Joseph Daly grew up tough—working class, no frills, no shortcuts. The streets and docks molded a boy into a man who valued grit over gold. Faith anchored him, a steady, quiet force beneath layers of grime and sweat. His personal motto: stand true, fight hard, die free.

A devout Catholic, Daly’s belief in a higher purpose wove through every battle, every decision. He carried a simple rosary in his pocket. Many who served with him noted—not just the man’s courage, but his deep well of compassion for his brothers in arms. War is hell, but even hell rests under heaven’s gaze.

“I’d rather be good than lucky any day,” Daly once said. That was the code he lived by.

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Battle of Tientsin: The Boxer Rebellion, 1900

The Boxer Rebellion carved his name into legend. As dawn broke over Tientsin, China, July 13, 1900, Daly faced brutal urban warfare that twisted streets and alleys into death traps. Enemy forces swarmed relentlessly, seeking to rip apart the foreign stronghold.

Amid shrieking bullets, Daly manned a barricade like a rock amid a rising tide. Twice, the Marines’ lines buckled. Twice, Daly rallied the men forward—undaunted. One of his Medal of Honor citations recalls his role in “distinguishing himself by his bravery in the engagement.”

But that wasn’t the full story. According to accounts, at a critical moment, Daly alone charged the enemy with a revolver, buying time for Marines to regroup. Fearless leadership. It was more than courage—it was that unbreakable will to survive, and to protect.

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“Come on, you sons of bitches!”: World War I, Belleau Wood, 1918

Seventeen years later, war called him again. At Belleau Wood, France, Daly was no longer a young Marine. He was Sgt. Major, a hardened titan who’d seen the worst humanity offers. The woods that summer became an inferno of artillery, machine guns, and death.

During the relentless fight for Belleau Wood, Daly inspired men to keep pushing, even when hope thinned. Veterans recall his booming challenge:

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

That line became a battle cry etched into Marine Corps lore. Charging not just the enemy, but the fear itself. The Marine Corps historian credits him as one of only three American servicemen awarded the Medal of Honor twice. His second Medal for “extraordinary heroism” under fire in WWI cemented his legendary status. [1]

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Bronze and Blood: Decorations and Respect

Sgt. Major Daniel J. Daly’s battlefield pedigree reads like a ledger of valor: two Medals of Honor—the highest US military decoration—a Navy Cross, and numerous other awards. But medals are hollow without the men who witnessed the fire in his eyes.

One of his comrades, Major General John A. Lejeune, later said of Daly,

“He was every Marine. Bold, fearless, and utterly devoted.”

His citation for his WWI Medal of Honor describes actions that held the line against enemy assaults and rallied Marines through what seemed like impossible odds. In an era when valor was measured in blood and sacrifice, Daly never flinched.

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War’s Harsh Lessons and Eternal Purpose

Dan Daly’s story is carved from sacrifice and the cruel lessons of combat. But it’s more than myth. It’s a brutal reminder:

Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s action born in spite of it.

Fighting for a cause—something bigger than yourself—is the fire that fuels men like Daly. His faith gave him purpose beyond victory or survival. It gave him peace when the smoke cleared.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

Today’s warriors—and those who watch from home—find in Daly’s legacy a stark truth: Brotherhood, sacrifice, and unwavering resolve don’t fade with time. They echo across the generations.

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Sgt. Major Daniel J. Daly died in 1937, but the story of grit and faith he forged on battlefields remains unbroken. A man who stood alone, held the line, and shouted in the teeth of death. He is the voice of every Marine who refused to fall, the embodiment of courage hard-earned, never taken for granted.

His legacy is not just medals or history books. It’s that ember burning in every veteran’s heart—a call to stand, to fight, to endure with honor.

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Sources

1. Marine Corps History Division, Medal of Honor Recipients – World War I 2. Military Times Hall of Valor, Daniel J. Daly 3. United States Marine Corps, Belleau Wood: The Battle That Changed the Course 4. Coffman, Edward M., The Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (context on Marine Corps ethos)

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