Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly Awarded Two Medals of Honor

Dec 13 , 2025

Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph Daly Awarded Two Medals of Honor

Bloodied hands clutching a sandbag, bullets tearing past, the roar of the enemy mere feet away—Daniel Joseph Daly did not flinch. Not once. That is the measure of a warrior forged in fire and grit, twice decorated with the Medal of Honor, who stood unmoved through hell’s storms. A soldier of few words but unmatched deeds.

From Brooklyn’s Streets to the Battlefield

Born in 1873, Daniel Joseph Daly grew hard in Brooklyn’s unforgiving streets. Poverty shaped him, but something deeper anchored his soul. A faith tempered by hardship. He joined the Marine Corps in 1899 and never wavered. “A Marine’s honor and courage come from somewhere inside, beyond flesh and blood,” Daly once said.

A devout Catholic, his faith was steel under the skin—never boastful, yet absolute. He lived by a warrior’s code: Protect your brothers. Face death with jaws clenched.

His life was proof of Romans 5:3-4, “tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

The Boxer Rebellion: Fire and Defiance

In June 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in China, Daly’s mettle became legend. At Tientsin, Marines faced a crushing wave of Boxer and Imperial Chinese forces. Daly, then a corporal, rallied his squad amid a bloody ambush.

Under unrelenting fire, he reportedly snapped: “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” Then danced out front, drawing fire like a lion daring the wolves.

His citations describe him manning a barricade “where the enemy was lashed with such violence it seemed certain the position would be lost.” Yet he held, firing with lethal precision, rescuing wounded comrades, refusing to quit.

For this, he earned his first Medal of Honor, the highest testimony to raw, unyielding courage.

World War I: Valor Reforged in the Argonne

Fifteen years later, the nightmare returned amidst the mud and blood of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, 1918. Now a Sergeant Major, Daly’s legend only grew. The battlefield was a hellscape, tangled in barbed wire and soaked in rain—death in every breath.

When a French unit faltered under machine-gun fire threatening the entire line, Daly’s orders were clear: go forward and take the guns. Without pause, he led a small detachment, charging trenches with a fury that stunned enemies and comrades alike.

His Medal of Honor citation reads: “In the Argonne Forest, he captured a machine-gun nest alone, killing or capturing the enemy crew, enabling his company to advance.”

Fierce, fearless—a man who bore the weight of the fight on his shoulders and never dropped it.

Recognized by the Corps and Country

Daly is the rare warrior, one of only 19 Americans to earn two Medals of Honor—and the only Marine to receive two in separate conflicts. When asked what courage meant, he said simply, “You don’t pick and choose. You step up.”

Fellow Marines spoke of him as a living anvil. “Lead from the front,” he demanded of himself. Leaders and men trusted his calm in chaos, his steady glance piercing the fog of war.

A Marine Corps legend. Never loud. Never seeking glory. Just doing what needed doing.

Enduring Lessons from Sgt. Major Daly

His story isn’t just about medals or battles won. It’s about what scars and sacrifice teach: that courage is grit, tenacity, and an iron will to protect those who stand shoulder to shoulder.

His life is a call to bear the unbearable; to keep moving even when hope flickers nearly out.

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

When the dust settles and war’s noise fades, Sgt. Major Daniel Joseph Daly remains a beacon—raw, relentless, redeemed. He carries the eternal weight of sacrifice with quiet dignity. His story insists we remember: Valor is not the absence of fear. It’s the decision that something else is more important.