US Marine Corps Sgt. Major Daniel Daly - Two Time Medal of Honor Recipient

Sgt. Major Daniel J. Daly

In this episode of Duty & Valor, I’m going to tell you the story of a man who, although fighting in some of our Nation’s lesser known conflicts, would demonstrate uncommon valor.   A man who served in the US Marine Corps for 30 years, and saw action across the globe.  A man who single-handedly defended his position, where he would inflict heavy enemy casualties.  A man whose battle cry would solidify his legend among fellow Devil Dogs.   A man who would be awarded the Medal of Honor two different times.   This is the story of Sgt. Major Daniel Daly.

Born in Glen Cove, NY on November 11th, 1873, Daniel Daly lived the typical childhood on Long Island.  He was a newspaper boy and would later find a love of boxing, which he would reportedly be very good at.  Knowing he wanted more to life than what was available to him in late 19th century NY.  His desire to do more with his life, led him to enlist in the US Marine Corps on January 10th, 1899, were he wanted to fight in the Spanish-American War.  But that war would end before he finished his basic military training.  Nonetheless, this was the start of his decades long military career.

China

In 1900, Private Daly found himself stationed in Peking, China, before it was known as Beijing, where he was a member of the US Embassy Guard.  In what should have been a fairly uneventful post, the actions of the Boxer rebellion would see that it wasn’t.  The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 to 1901 was a nationalist movement that fought against foreign influence in China, with the aim of restoring the power of the Qing Dynasty.

On August 14th, 1900 during the Battle of Peking, the foreign embassy compound would see itself surrounded during a prolonged 55 day siege. At one point, the US position on the wall was overrun and US forces had to retreat.  The Americans would regroup and scale the walls to recapture their position.  Once the defensive position was secured, Private Daly would volunteer to man it by himself, which allowed other men to seek reinforcements.  Taking up position on the bastion, throughout the night Private Daly would avoid repeated enemy charges and the shots from enemy snipers to secure that position.  

When reinforcements finally arrived the next day, they would find a single Marine greeting them.  To their disbelief, Private daily was able to inflict a heavy toll on the attacking forces.  Reports put the number of their forces at 200, of which many were killed or wounded.

Private Daly was awarded his first Medal of Honor for these actions. And on December 11th of the next year, President McKinley would bestow the award upon him.

Haiti

Now a Gunnery Sgt, Daniel Daly would go on to serve in places around the world, including Panama, Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico before finding himself in Haiti.  There he was part of the American occupation of Haiti during what was called the Banana Wars.  An approximate 36 years of American intervention and occupation in the Caribbean and Central America.  On October 24th, 1915, Sgt. Daly along with 40 men of the 15th Company Marines were ambushed by the enemy while attempting a night time crossing of the Grande River near Fort Liberte.  Outmatched 10 to 1, they were under relentless attack throughout the night.  During the failed river crossing the Americans had lost their machine gun when the horse carrying it was shot and killed.  

While his men engaged the enemy, Daly would quietly make his way back across enemy lines alone, where he attempted to find the lost machine gun.  Sgt. Daly spotted three Haitian men and quietly killed them with his knife.  He would then spend some time searching for the machine gun, and miraculously he would eventually find it.  He would then make his way back to his unit where they were able to put the machine gun into action.  This added fire power aided the American forces in their counter offensive.   Where they would defeat the enemy the next day.  Because of his actions, Sgt. Daly would be awarded his second medal of honor.  In the award citation, it was written that Sgt. Daly fought with exceptional gallantry against heavy odds throughout his action.  He was only the 19th person to be awarded the Medal of Honor twice, and only the third to be awarded it for separate actions.   

France

Though heavily decorated, Sgt. Daly’s military career was far from over.  Three years later in June of 1918, he would find himself fighting in France during WWI, at the Battle of Belleau Wood.  Following the Russian surrender, the Germans had begun a spring offensive with their Eastern Divisions being moved to the Western front.  The Germans didn’t expect the resistance that they found at the Marne River, and they would see their advance halted by American, British, and French forces near the Marne River.  

On June 5th, Sgt. Daly was credited with risking his life to put out a fire in an ammunition dump, which would have been catastrophic if it had caught fire.  Then a few days later, he would again put aside his fear of death and would visit every machine gun position within his company, which helped to keep the morale of his men up.  It was around this time that Sgt. Daly would be credited with the quote that would inspire Marines, then and now.  He would legendarily yell to his men, “Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?”.  This quote is memorialized on the walls of the Leatherneck Gallery at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA.  

On June 10th, he was seen single-handedly attacking, and capturing, a German machine gun emplacement with only his pistol and grenades.  He would also be credited with rescuing many wounded Allied men during the battle.  

He was nominated for a third Medal of Honor but was given a Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross instead.  It was reported that leadership at the time was hesitant to give this honor a third time to one man.

After the War

Now a Sgt. Major, Daniel Daly would continue his military service until he officially retired on February 6th, 1929.  This was the end to a 30 year Marine Corps career, but as all others before and after, he remained a Marine until his death at the age of 63 on April 27th, 1937 in Glendale, NY.  

Sgt. Major Daniel Daly is buried at the Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.

I encourage you to learn more about Sgt. Daniel Daly.  There are books available about his heroism, as well as short form media on the internet.