Daniel Joseph Daly, Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

Dec 31 , 2025

Daniel Joseph Daly, Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

A battlefield doesn’t just test a man’s mettle—it carves his soul into something darker, tougher, unbreakable. Daniel Joseph Daly stood at that edge twice, bleeding and unbowed, when hell had its claws deep in history’s throat. The scars weren’t just physical—they were proof. Proof that courage can be forged amid chaos, and faith can shine through hell’s relentless night.

The Early Forge: Roots of a Warrior

Born in 1873 in Glen Cove, New York, Daniel Joseph Daly was no stranger to grit. The streets gave no quarter, but it was the Marine Corps that molded him into something sharper. By 1899, he was already carving his place in history, a warrior who lived by an unspoken code—duty before self, brothers in arms above all.

His faith wasn’t loudly proclaimed, but it was there. A steel resolve born from humble beginnings, a grounding force through the crucible of combat. Daly wasn’t a man of many words, but when he spoke, those who followed trusted him with their lives.

A Lion in the Boxer Rebellion

In 1900, foreigners and diplomats in Peking found themselves besieged—cut off by the Boxers and Qing forces. It was here, during the battle for the Legation Quarter, that Daly stepped into legend.

The enemy pressed hard. The Marines were outnumbered, trapped, but not broken. Daly led his men through hell, fighting for every inch of ground. Amid rifle fire and explosions, he seized a moment that would echo forever: single-handedly, he bayonetted two enemy soldiers rushing a gate—a brutal, clear-headed act of defense that kept his platoon from being overrun.

His Medal of Honor citation for this battle reads:

"For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in the battle of Peking, China, July 21 to August 17, 1900."¹

The Medal wasn't just a shiny brass star on his chest. It was the symbol of raw grit on a battlefield where survival demanded more than courage—it demanded savage will.

The Great War: Valor Reborn in Trenches of Hell

World War I dropped the next weight on Daly’s shoulders. America’s entry thrust him into mud, blood, and the cacophony of modern war. The fighting around Chateau-Thierry in 1918 was a nightmare woven with machine guns, poison gas, and death.

Here, Daly’s valor roared again. When enemy troops swarmed and threatened to break the lines, it wasn’t just muscle—it was leadership that held his men steady. Accounts place him in the thick of it, rallying his exhausted Marines under crushing fire.

The story most often told is Daly’s call to arms during the battle near Belleau Wood:

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

Though historians debate the exact wording, the phrase embodies the spirit he lit in the hearts of Marines who faced near-impossible odds. Leaders remembered him as someone who refused to let fear drown them all.

For actions including this fierce leadership and personal bravery, Daly was awarded his second Medal of Honor—the first Marine ever to claim the medal twice.²

Honored, Remembered, Unmatched

Daly’s decorations fill pages in Marine Corps history:

- Two Medals of Honor (Boxer Rebellion, WWI) - Numerous other awards for valor - A legacy cited by Marines even today as a standard of fearlessness and duty³

Commanders praised his unwavering calm in the storm. Comrades recalled a man of few words but fierce conviction.

General John A. Lejeune said of him:

"Sergeant Major Daly was the Marine Corps in his finest image—dedication, bravery, and the grit to never say die."⁴

Enduring Lessons from a Warrior’s Life

Daly’s story is blood and iron. Not myth, nor legend spun from smoke. His valor offers raw truth to anyone who hears it: true courage is quiet. It rises from relentless discipline and sacrifice.

It’s in the moments when your back hits the wall, and all you can do is stand firm. It’s in the scars you carry—not as badges of glory, but as reminders of survival and redemption.

His story folds into the Scripture he lived by, though rarely voiced:

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Daly’s legacy is a call down through generations—not to glorify war, but to honor the warrior’s path. The missions ended, battles faded, but the spirit never dies. It asks the living to stand on shoulders built by sacrifice. To fight the quiet battles of life with the same relentlessness. To carry the torch for those who cannot.

Sgt. Major Daniel Joseph Daly didn’t just live history. He bled it. And in that blood, he found purpose.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division, Medal of Honor Recipients — China Relief Expedition (Boxer Rebellion) 2. Marine Corps University, Twice Medal of Honor Recipients in USMC History 3. Department of Defense archives, Daniel Joseph Daly Awards 4. John A. Lejeune, Semper Fidelis: The Story of the Marine Corps