Daniel Daly

Daniel Joseph Daly (November 11, 1873 – April 27, 1937) was a United States Marine and one of nineteen U.S. servicemen to have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice. He earned his first Medal of Honor during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and the second in Haiti in 1915. Daly and Major General Smedley Butler are the only Marines who earned two Medals of Honor in two separate actions.

In World War I, Daly became further entrenched in Marine Cops lore when he is said to have yelled, "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" to his company before charging the Germans at the Battle of Belleau Wood. Butler described Daly as "the fightingest Marine I ever knew...It was an object lesson to have served with him."

Daly's Medals of Honor are on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia.

Early life

Daniel Joseph Daly was born on November 11, 1873, in Glen Cove, New York, on Long Island. He spent his youth in New York City, working as a newsboy among other jobs. Despite his slight build— tall and weighing —Daly occasionally fought as a semi-pro boxer.

Military career

Early career

Daly enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on January 10, 1899, at the age of 25. His first posting was with the Asiatic Fleet aboard the cruiser USS ''Newark''. In 1900, the fleet arrived in China during the Boxer Rebellion. On July 15, 1900, Private Daly and his commanding officer, Captain Newt H. Hall, set out to reconnoiter a position while under siege by the Boxers. A working party, scheduled to follow to construct defenses, never arrived. While Captain Hall returned for the working party, Daly single-handedly fought off a furious Boxer attack on the position, an action which earned him his first Medal of Honor.

After serving in China, Daly saw duty on various ships in the Pacific and Caribbean areas, and saw action in the Philippines and the Banana Wars. He also trained recruits, gained a reputation as an excellent boxer, and rose to the rank of gunnery sergeant. On March 14, 1911, Daly was aboard the USS ''Springfield'' when he spotted a gasoline fire that was spreading toward the ship's magazine. He successfully extinguished the fire, ensuring the safety of the ship's 500 crewmen, but spent several weeks hospitalized with severe burns. Daly received commendations from both the Secretary of the Navy and the Commandant of the Marine Corps for his actions.

Daly earned his second Medal of Honor in Haiti with the U.S. Marines supporting the Haitian government in a fight against Cacos insurgents. On the night of October 24, 1915, during the Battle of Fort Dipitie, Gunnery Sergeant Daly was on patrol with a detachment of three squads of the 15th Company, 2nd Marine Regiment, under the command of Major Smedley Butler. The Marines were ambushed by a force of some 400 Cacos while crossing a river, and the horse carring their machine gun was killed, its carcass sinking to the riverbed. With the battle raging throughout the night, Daly repeatedly dove to the bottom of the river until he located the horse, freed the machine gun from its restraints, and carried the of weaponry a mile back to the Marines' position. Later, rearmed and with Daly in command of one of the squads, the Marines regrouped and scattered the Cacos.

World War I

Daly's service in World War I began November 4, 1917, initially fighting in Toulon and Aisne in June 1918, Daly served as the first sergeant of 73rd Company, 6th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Brigade, attached to the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division. On June 1, the regiment was placed in a gap in the line left by the French 43rd Division, with the intent to stop the German advance toward Paris. The Marines drove back an attack by the German 28th Division on June 2. On June 5, a German shell landed in an ammunition dump at Lucy-le-Bocage, starting a fire. Daly quickly led a party from his company into the flames to extinguish the blaze, preventing the arsenal from exploding.

On June 6, the Marines went on the offensive. The Germans were entrenched in the woods, separated from the Marines by of open wheat field. Facing 1,200 Germans with 200 machine guns, the 73rd Company was pinned down by intense fire. As the Marines took cover at nightfall, Daly walked openly to each of his machine gun positions, rallying and coordinating his men. On June 10, a German machine gun unit advanced close to Daly's position. Daly immediately charged the weapon, destroying it with three grendades, shot the unit's commanding officer with his .45 caliber pistol, and took its remaining 14 soldiers prisoner. As the battle raged later in the day, Daly exposed himself to enemy fire while evacuating the wounded. For his actions from June 5–10, Daly was awarded the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the French Médaille militaire.

Daly's final campaign was the Meuse–Argonne offensive. By the war's end, he had suffered a bullet wound in the shoulder and two shrapnel wounds in the leg. Daly left active duty for the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1919, and officially retired on February 6, 1929 at the rank of sergeant major.

Legacy

According to Marine Corps lore, Daly rallied his men at the Battle of Belleau Wood by yelling, "Come on, you sons-o'-bitches, do you want to live forever?" This quote first appeared in ''And They Thought We Wouldn't Fight'', a 1918 memoir by war correspondent Floyd Gibbons of ''The Chicago Tribune''. Gibbons, who was attached to Major Benjamin Berry's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, attributed the line to an unnamed gunnery sergeant in that unit. Popular legend eventually credited Daly with the rallying cry, despite discrepancies in the story—Daly was a first sergeant, not a gunnery sergeant, and he was a member of the 6th Marine Regiment, not the 5th. Historian Alan Axelrod stated that "nobody has been found who actually heard alysay it." Regardless, in May 1919, less than a year after the battle, Daly's story at Belleau Wood—incorporating the quote—was one of six short films in ''The Rothapfel Unit'', a motion picture directed by Samuel L. Rothapfel.

For his part, Daly told a Marine Corps historian that he yelled, "For Christ's sake, men—''come on!'' Do you want to live forever?" Irrespective of the quote's wording or speaker, it has become firmly entrenched in Marine Corps lore, with Axelrod noting that the details do not "diminish the reality the legend is based on."

Later life

After leaving the Marines, Daly lived a quiet life with his sister in New York, working as a bank guard and avoiding publicity. He died of a heart attack in Glendale, Queens, New York on April 27, 1937, aged 63. He is buried at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Decorations and honors

Honors

A was named in honor of Daly and was commissioned on March 10, 1943.

On November 10, 2005, the United States Postal Service issued its ''Distinguished Marines'' stamps in which Daly was honored, along with three other Marine Corps heroes. Besides Daly, these stamps honored John Basilone, John A. Lejeune, and Chesty Puller.

Medals

Daly's decorations and medals includes two Medals of Honor; the Navy Cross; Distinguished Service Cross; three Letters of Commendation; Good Conduct Medal with two bronze stars; China Relief Expedition Medal; Philippine Campaign Medal; Expeditionary Medal with one bronze star; Mexican Service Medal; Haitian Campaign Medal

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