Dec 11 , 2025

Sgt. Maj. Daniel Daly, Marine Twice Awarded the Medal of Honor

Sgt. Maj. Daniel Joseph Daly stood alone at the edge of chaos, a single figure against the roar of enemy fire and the weight of impossible odds. Blood soaked the mud beneath his boots. Around him, men fell, guns jammed, and hope flickered. But Daly did not waver. He hurled back death with nothing but grit and defiance.

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Born of Grit and Faith

Born in Glen Cove, New York, in 1873, Daniel Daly’s roots were forged in working-class hardship. No silver spoons, no easy paths. Just relentless grit and hard-won honor. He enlisted with the Marines in 1899, a time when America was testing its mettle on foreign soil.

Faith threaded quietly but firmly through his life. A devout Catholic, Daly carried more than weapons—he carried a code. Loyalty. Sacrifice. A belief that even in war’s filth and fury, there was a higher calling. “Greater love hath no man than this,” echoed in his mind, and in his steps.

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The Boxer Rebellion: Defiance Held in a Fist

In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in China, Daly’s first Medal of Honor was carved out of sheer audacity. The siege of Peking had American and allied forces trapped and battered. Enemy warriors surged like tidal waves hungry to sweep away the defenders.

With a rifle in his hand and defiance in his soul, Daly charged. Twice. Alone, he confronted attackers looming over the perimeter. Two acts of valor stand clear in Marine Corps history: on July 13 and August 14, 1900, he single-handedly attacked the enemy, breaking their momentum and buying crucial time for his comrades.[1]

“Fighting not for glory but for the man beside you,” the saying went, and Daly embodied it.

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The Crucible of WWI: Holding the Line at Belleau Wood

Two decades later, the hellish forests of Belleau Wood, France, became the forge that sealed Daly’s legend for a second Medal of Honor. The Great War roared with mechanized death. Artillery thundered, machine guns spat endless death.

On June 3, 1918, as a Gunnery Sergeant, Daly faced a massive German attack that threatened to shatter the Marine lines. With few men left standing, the situation teetered on collapse. Daly grabbed a rifle and ammunition. Then another rifle after his own jammed.

He stood in the open, firing relentlessly to rally his men and repel enemy advances. His leadership ignited a fierce counterattack, holding a key position despite overwhelming fire. “Retreat was not an option—only victory or death,” Marines would remember. His citation notes:

“When the position held by his command was taken under fierce attack, Sgt. Daly remained in a shell hole and continued to pour deadly fire on the enemy, inspiring his men.”[2]

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Honors Wrought from Fire

Two Medals of Honor—one for single-handed courage in the face of furious enemy charges during the Boxer Rebellion, another for steadfast leadership and valor in the crucible of World War I. Daly was one of only nineteen U.S. servicemen to earn this distinction twice.[3]

Eyewitnesses and commanders alike spoke of Daly as a man who “led by example” and “fearlessly embraced every peril.” Marine legend and author Edwin Simmons called him “The Fighting Marine—tough, relentless, and unbreakable.”

His rise to Sergeant Major embodied a soldier’s humility and strength, more than decorations or ranks. Daly carried scars—physical and unseen—but also a deep, unshakable hope for redemption beyond the battlefield’s mud.

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The Legacy Engraved in Every Warrior’s Soul

Daniel Daly’s story is etched into the very marrow of combat valor—not just in medals or words, but in the raw truth of sacrifice. War slaughters dreams; it spares no man. But from the blood, some like Daly rise like iron-smelted steel.

He taught Marines—and all who would listen—that courage was not the absence of fear, but the refusal to yield to it. That leadership means standing exposed, standing for your brothers, firing into the night when the darkness feels endless.

“For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life...neither height nor depth...shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”—Romans 8:38-39

Daly’s life points beyond heroics. It points to enduring faith amidst the ruin. To a Soldier’s burden carried with dignity. To hope carved from the grime and blood of the battlefields.

In every scar, a story. In every fight, a fight worth fighting. That is Sgt. Maj. Daniel Joseph Daly’s gift to the warriors still to come.

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Sources

[1] Naval History and Heritage Command, “Medal of Honor Recipients – Boxer Rebellion” [2] U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Medal of Honor Citations, World War I” [3] Marine Corps University Press, Simmons, Edwin H. The United States Marines: A History

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