Daniel Joseph Daly, Marine Who Earned Two Medals of Honor

Nov 27 , 2025

Daniel Joseph Daly, Marine Who Earned Two Medals of Honor

Blood and valor collide at Peking’s walls. The stink of cordite and sweat fills the air. Sgt. Maj. Daniel Joseph Daly moves through the chaos like a ghost forged in fire. No hesitation. No fear. Just an unyielding will to protect the few souls still alive, to hold the line against the tide of hell.

Blood Runs in His Veins

Born in Glen Cove, New York, 1873, Daly was no stranger to grit. From a lowly private to the grizzled Sergeant Major of Marines, his journey was carved from hard streets and harder discipline. Raised in a tough, working-class family, his life was grounded in raw honesty and a stubborn heart. Faith? In his own words, “I just try to do right by the boys and the Corps.” That’s where his creed was born — loyalty under fire, honor without compromise.

His personal code resembled the soul of a warrior deeply aware of mortality and grace. Like the warrior poet David, he knew scars and songs are often born from the same soil.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

The Boxer Rebellion: Defiance in the Firestorm

July 1900, Beijing. The streets boil. The Boxer Rebellion’s siege tightens like a noose around the foreign legations. Marines and soldiers claw for every inch, every breath. Daly’s moment emerges at the gates of the legation quarter. With bullets ripping the air, he grabs a rifle from a fallen man and charges a wall crawling with enemy combatants.

“Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” The scream cracks through the gunfire—a challenge, a battle cry, a soul’s raw refusal to perish quietly.

He single-handedly held the breach, fighting off waves of attackers until reinforcements arrived. This was the act granting him his first Medal of Honor — emblematic of sheer guts under punishment.

The Storm of the Great War

By 1918, the world was aflame again. Sgt. Maj. Daly marched into the mud-choked trenches of Belleau Wood, France. The “Devil Dogs” earned their name in this crucible, and Daly stood at the heart of the storm commanding his men with relentless courage. The battle was slaughterhouse brutal—artillery blasted, men fell like wheat before the scythe.

Daly’s leadership was a beacon. Under his charge, his Marines pushed forward against near-impossible odds. Twice wounded, he refused evacuation, tossing himself into the jaws of death again and again.

His second Medal of Honor came not from theatrical heroics but from steadfast leadership: braving machine guns, rallying broken squads,—making impossible calls that saved lives and ground.

Honors Etched in Valor

Two Medals of Honor. A singular feat in Marine Corps history.

His first citation for Beijing reads:

“For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in battle near Tientsin, China, July 13, 1900. Single handed, he repulsed a greatly superior force of the enemy, counting among the killed many of the enemy dead.”

His World War I citation echoes the endurance of spirit:

“In action near Vierzy, France, July 19, 1918, for extraordinary heroism in leading his platoon under heavy fire, inspiring his men by coolness and courage.”

Generals lauded him. Franklin D. Roosevelt called Marines “tough sons of bitches,” Daly embodied that.

Comrades remembered him as a relentless fighter but also a man with a wry smile and a fierce devotion to his brothers-in-arms.

A Legacy Sealed in Sacrifice

Daly’s story is not legend. It is blood and thunder written in flesh and bone.

Courage lived like a second skin.

But his legacy goes beyond medals. It is echoed in every Marine who has ever stood at the breaking point and refused to back down.

He died in 1937, but the lessons he offered remain alive:

Sacrifice. Faith in your brothers. The fierce refusal to surrender the soul to fear.

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

In a world desperate for heroes, Sgt. Maj. Daniel Joseph Daly reminds us of what true valor demands—not just great deeds, but the unbreakable will to stand when everything else falls away. His scars tell the story of redemption through sacrifice—a legacy carved deep as the crucible of war itself.