Daniel J. Daly, Two-Time Medal of Honor Marine at Belleau Wood

Jul 25 , 2026

Daniel J. Daly, Two-Time Medal of Honor Marine at Belleau Wood

Blood and mud. Fire and steel. Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly didn’t flinch. Under a hellish sky in China, bullets tearing through the air, he stood firm—twice a Medal of Honor winner, once for the Boxer Rebellion, once in the Great War, but always a man defined by grit, faith, and unshakable courage.

Known By Blood and Honor

Daniel Joseph Daly was born in Glen Cove, Long Island, in 1873—hardscrabble roots, Irish grit in his bones. The kind of man who learned early that life was a fight. From a young age, faith wasn’t a fancy sermon; it was a lifeline. A Marine’s honor and a tender, stubborn belief that the Almighty watched over those who fought for justice. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," he might have whispered under his breath, "I will fear no evil."

Daly’s sense of duty was forged like his muscles: through sacrifice and relentless discipline. A boot camp drop-out? Never. He volunteered for every tough assignment. The code he lived: stand your ground. Protect your brothers. Fight with everything you’ve got.

The Battle That Defined Him: The Siege of Peking, 1900

It was July 1900. The Boxer Rebellion boiled over in China. Foreign legations trapped, surrounded by a brutal insurgency hell-bent on wiping them out. American, British, German, Japanese troops—barely holding the line.

Sgt. Major Daly’s Marines were guarding church grounds. Chaos swirled. Enemy shattered buildings, shot from shadows. Then came the order: hold the line at all costs.

Daly and his men were low on ammo, exhausted, bloodied. The Boxer rebels surged again and again—waves of violence crashing against the Marine wall. Sources report Daly grabbed a rifle and a pistol, then, with a shout that has passed into legend, rallied his men to fight back ferociously.[¹]

His Medal of Honor citation is brutal in its simplicity: “For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in the battle of Peking, 1900.” The Marines on that bloodstained street didn’t break. He did not flinch. They called him “the fightingest Marine in all the Corps” for a reason.[²]

War to End All Wars: World War I and the Battle of Belleau Wood

Fourteen years later, the world exploded again—this time in Europe. The infant Marine Corps expeditionary force was sent to the Western Front to help stem the tide of German occupation.

At Belleau Wood in June 1918, Daly was a larger-than-life figure in the slaughterhouse of trench warfare. The woods were a death trap: machine guns, artillery, barbed wire, mud, and blood mixing in a hellscape the likes of which no man should endure.

A single story captures his unyielding spirit. During a charge, the attack bogged down. Amid heavy fire, Daly reportedly yelled, “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” His voice cut through fear, pushed men forward. Those words sparked the assault that took the wood.

His second Medal of Honor citation narrates relentless frontline leadership: leading attacks, exposing himself to fire repeatedly, rallying men broken in spirit. A Roman warrior in the mud.

Lt. Colonel Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, no stranger to valor, would later write of Daly's legendary courage—proof that genuine valor shapes legends, forged not in comfortable rooms but in hellfire.[³]

Recognition and Reverence

Two Medals of Honor. Few Marines, fewer soldiers, have earned this distinction twice. Daly earned his first under the white flags of China’s Boxer Rebellion and his second amid the American bloodletting in France.

But medals are iron and ribbon. The true recognition came from his men—the ones who fought alongside him, bled with him, and learned to stand when terror screamed for flight. His leadership was not about rank; it was about playing the hand of sacrifice and never losing faith in victory.

“Every dog has his day,” Daly once reportedly said. The man who grabbed a rifle at Peking and led charges at Belleau Wood knew this was about more than medals—it was about leaving brothers alive when the smoke cleared. About redemption in the rage of combat.

Enduring Legacy: Courage Is a Call to Faith and Sacrifice

Daly’s story is etched deep into Marine Corps lore—but it’s more than history. His life is a hymn to the warrior’s burden and the grace that underwrites that burden.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

He fought not for glory, but because the fight was right. Courage was his compass. Sacrifice his language. Redemption, not in medals or accolades, but in the eyes of every man who lived because of him.

A Marine to the marrow, Daniel Joseph Daly reminds us all: When the world throws fire and fury, stand. Lead. Fight. And trust that some power greater than this mortal coil carries your scars to a purpose beyond the battlefield.

Sources

[1] History Division, United States Marine Corps, “Medal of Honor Citations, Daniel J. Daly” [2] Millett, Allan R., The United States Marine Corps: A Complete History [3] Shulimson, Jack, U.S. Marines in Battle: Belleau Wood