Daniel Joseph Daly and His Two Medals of Honor at Belleau Wood

Nov 22 , 2025

Daniel Joseph Daly and His Two Medals of Honor at Belleau Wood

The air split with gunfire. The enemy surged like a wall of iron and fire. Amid the chaos, one man stood unyielding, his voice cutting through the roar—rallying his brothers as if his own blood called them forth. Sgt. Major Daniel Joseph Daly didn’t just lead charge after charge; he rewrote the code of valor with every breath.

The Backbone of Iron: Early Life and Creed

Born in 1873 in Glenmore, New York, Daniel Joseph Daly came from the rough streets of New York City. A working-class Irish Catholic, he learned early the meaning of grit and sacrifice. His faith wasn’t just lip service—it was the armor under his uniform. Daly’s moral compass pointed true north: protect your brothers, never bow to fear, and trust in something greater than yourself.

“Blessed is the man who endures temptation,” he might have whispered, living out James 1:12, walking through the fire with eyes wide open. The Marine Corps found in him more than muscle and grit—they found a man who embodied duty as a sacred trust.

The Boxer Rebellion: The First Medal of Honor

July 13, 1900. The battle in Tientsin, China, set the stage for a legend.

The Boxer Rebellion was chaos—frenzied mobs, desperate last stands, the scent of death thick as smoke. Daly, a corporal then, faced a flood of attackers trying to breach the foreign legations. When his rifle jammed, he famously charged wielding his rifle as a club, shouting orders as bullets tore past.

He single-handedly repelled waves of Boxer fighters, buying precious time for his unit to regroup. His raw courage wasn’t just instinct—it was steel forged by a lifetime of hardship and faith.

For this fearless leadership, Daly was awarded his first Medal of Honor.[^1]

The Greatest Generation’s Guardian: World War I Valor

Fast forward to October 4, 1918. The Battle of Belleau Wood, France.

The woods were a crucible. American troops, many raw and untested, faced the fanatical German defense. Daly, now a sergeant major, was the linchpin.

When his squad wavered, Daly stood in the open, bullets slamming the earth around him. He screamed a challenge to the enemy: “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?”

That line alone sparked a charge almost mythical in its ferocity.

Amid the carnage, Daly rallied his men to retake lost ground again and again. His leadership shattered the enemy’s resolve and forged the Marines’ reputation as the “Devil Dogs” of Belleau Wood.

For extraordinary heroism, risking his life above and beyond the call, Daly earned his second Medal of Honor.[^2]

The Medals Speak, But the Man Echoes Louder

Two Medals of Honor. Many other awards. But medals never carry the full weight of a man like Daly.

Leaders who fought alongside him remembered a warrior who bore scars unseen: emotional, spiritual, eternal.

Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler, a legendary Marine himself, praised Daly’s grit and spirit. Their generation recognized in him a warrior-poet of battle, a living testament that valor wasn’t just brute force—it was heart and soul standing firm against the dark.

The Redemption of Scars

Daly’s story bristles with the violence of war—but it’s not a tale of glorifying bloodshed. His faith and belief in redemption bled through every decision.

He knew the cost of combat wasn’t just measured in medals or buried bodies, but in shattered spirits and the haunting prayers whispered at dawn.

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

From the Boxer Rebellion to Belleau Wood, his legacy calls us back to the raw, aching humanity beneath the uniform. Courage isn’t absence of fear; it’s acting despite it. Honor isn’t vanity—it’s sacred trust. And in every scar lies a story of redemption.

In a world hungry for heroes, Sgt. Major Daniel Joseph Daly stands as a reminder: true valor demands sacrifice, faith, and a heart willing to bleed for others. The battlefield isn’t just where men die—it’s where the deepest parts of humanity are forged and, sometimes, reborn.

[^1]: USMC History Division, Medal of Honor Recipients: Daniel Joseph Daly [^2]: History and Museums Division, U.S. Marine Corps in World War I, Marine Corps Gazette Archives