Daniel J. Daly, the Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

Nov 11 , 2025

Daniel J. Daly, the Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

Steel and blood. No prayer louder than the grind of enemy fire.

Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly stood in the thick of chaos twice—once in China, then again on the horrid mud of Europe—carrying a courage that spit in the face of death. Neither time he wavered. Neither time he bowed.

Blood Baptism at Tientsin

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1873, Daniel Joseph Daly came up from gritty roots, steeped in blue-collar grit and unshakable faith. A devout Catholic shaped by his tough upbringing, Daly walked a line few dared—where faith met the fury of combat.

His personal creed? "A man’s got to be tough, but he’s got to be fair."

That toughness was tested in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. The Siege of the International Legations compounded brutality and desperation. Daly was a private then, and his actions at the battle near Tientsin would etch his name into Marine Corps lore.

Under shellfire, with enemy forces swarming like shadows, Daly charged alone with his bayonet to fend off advancing Boxer fighters. Twice awarded the Medal of Honor for this bloody engagement, the citations make no pretense: he single-handedly repelled enemy waves, saving his unit from massacre.

“Private Daly, with great courage and presence of mind, engaged the enemy single-handed while his comrades withdrew.”¹

Hell on the Western Front

Fourteen years later, the mud-choked trenches of WWI awaited him—not as a private, but Sergeant Major, the Marine Corps’ senior enlisted rank. Daly had fought many fights by then, but the Somme and Belleau Wood brought horrors different from any insurgency.

At Belleau Wood, 1918, Marines faced relentless German assaults. Daly stood where the fighting was fiercest. He rallied bloodied men, steadied fractured squads, and returned fire with a grim calm most lose under mortal pressure.

Two Medals of Honor. Both for extraordinary valor, both in different wars. His name carries a unique distinction: one of only three Americans to receive the Medal of Honor twice, and the only Marine so honored in two separate conflicts.

“Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” —Attributed command during the Battle of Belleau Wood.²

That quote, immortalized in military folklore, captures the gritty resolve Daly embodied. It was not bravado—it was a call to raw survival at the edge of death.

Honors Etched in Valor

His first Medal of Honor citation for the Boxer Rebellion reads like a steel bullet:

He distinguished himself by meritorious conduct in battle near Tientsin, China, July 13, 1900.³

His second, from Belleau Wood:

In the battle near Château-Thierry, France, June 27-28, 1918, Sgt. Maj. Daly displayed extraordinary heroism and leadership, rallying Marines under heavy fire to hold the line.⁴

Beyond medals, there were scarred comrades who remember him as a mountain of steady courage. A leader who faced hell not just with weapons—but with an unbreakable will.

Legacy Wrought from Sacrifice

Daniel J. Daly’s story is a testament that valor isn’t a flash in the pan—it’s a burnished steel forged in relentless fire. He walked battlefields soaked with blood and grit, his legacy an enduring beacon for every Marine who followed.

More than medals, it’s his example of fearless leadership and faith under fire that echoes across generations. For veterans crushed by trauma, his story reminds us that courage and redemption march hand in hand—even amid the mud and smoke.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life...nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 8:38-39

In every scar, every wound, there is a call—not just to fight, but to overcome. Daly fought so others might live. He bled so stories of valor and faith would outlive the gunsmoke.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division, “Medal of Honor Recipients: Boxer Rebellion.” 2. Coffman, Edward M., The Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, Presidio Press. 3. “Medal of Honor Citation, Daniel J. Daly,” Congressional Medal of Honor Society. 4. “Medal of Honor Citation, Daniel J. Daly,” Congressional Medal of Honor Society.