Sergeant Major Daniel Daly, Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

Dec 31 , 2025

Sergeant Major Daniel Daly, Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

The air was thick with smoke and the stench of fear. Amidst the chaos, one Marine stood unflinching, a living bulwark between death and his men. Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly did not wait for orders. He charged forward with the certainty of a man who had stared into hell and chosen to stare back harder.

Background & Faith

Born in Glen Cove, New York, 1873, Daly’s early years were carved from hard seams of poverty and grit. No silver spoons here—only iron will and the relentless drive of a blue-collar kid. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1899, stepping into a world where honor was the currency.

Faith was the backbone of his fortitude. A devout Catholic, Daly carried both his rosary and his rifle. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) wasn’t just a verse—it was a creed in blood and sweat. His sense of duty was forged in church pews and battlefield mud alike, a compass no enemy blast could dislodge.

The Battle That Defined Him

The Boxer Rebellion, China, summer 1900. The siege of the foreign legations in Peking was a brutal crucible. Daly’s first Medal of Honor came from relentless hand-to-hand fights during the legation’s defense. Surrounded and outgunned, he led counterattacks that ripped through Boxer fighters like a man possessed.

But it was not the sheer ferocity alone that earned him legend. Eyewitnesses report Daly carrying wounded Marines to safety while under withering fire. In the eyes of his men, he was more than a leader; he was their shield.

World War I’s Battle of Belleau Wood sharpened Daly’s spine of steel even further. By then a senior leader respected for his experience, Daly fought with reckless abandon, rallying the Marines through blistered fields soaked in mud and blood.

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

That cry, reportedly shouted at his Marines, cut through the panic and coagulated courage in the ranks. Under his fiery command, the 5th Marines held their ground against waves of German attacks. His second Medal of Honor recognized these actions—not once but twice placing himself in mortal peril to inspire, to fight, to push.

Recognition

Two Medals of Honor. Few have earned one. Fewer still have claimed two—Daly is one of only three Marines to ever do so.

His 1901 citation for Peking notes “distinguished bravery and coolness.” The 1918 award at Belleau Wood cites “extraordinary heroism in action.”

Generals and fellow Marines revered him. Maj. General Wendell C. Neville called Daly “a relentless fighter with iron nerve and outstanding leadership.”

But Daly’s true decoration was the lasting respect of those who served beside him. Descriptions paint a man of few words, but when he spoke, it was with the weight of battle-hardened conviction.

Legacy & Lessons

Daly’s life stitched a narrative of sacrifice that refuses to fade beneath the weight of time. He balanced grit with grace—the raw lip of war with a heart keenly aware of its cost.

He embodied the warrior’s paradox: fierce in combat, humble in victory. A Christian soldier who accepted that courage was neither boast nor bluster but a daily choice—to stand, to fight, to protect.

Today, his story calls to every generation touched by sacrifice. The battlefield scars Daly bore remind us all—valor is not the absence of fear but mastery over it.

“I have fought for my country, my comrades, and the freedom of all,” Daly said. His legacy is a charge: to fight not for glory, but for the ones who cannot fight for themselves.

In the darkest hours, when all seems lost, remember Sergeant Major Daniel Daly—the Marine who dared to defy death twice over. His footsteps echo still: stand firm, fight hard, and above all, love fiercely.

Sources

1. U.S. Marine Corps History Division, Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly Biography 2. Simmons, Edwin H., The United States Marines: A History, 4th Ed. 3. Greene, Jack, The U.S. Marines in World War I 4. Medal of Honor citations, Congressional Medal of Honor Society archives