This week on American Valor, a Marine whose record has never been matched. October 24 marks 111 years since the fight in Haiti that earned Dan Daly his second Medal of Honor. He's the only enlisted Marine ever to receive the nation's highest award twice.
A small man with a big reputation
Daniel Joseph Daly was born in New York on November 11, 1873. He stood about five feet six and weighed around 132 pounds. Before the Marine Corps he was a newsboy with a reputation as a fighter. He enlisted on January 10, 1899, hoping to get into the Spanish-American War, but it ended before he finished training (Marine Corps History Division).
Peking, August 1900
During the Boxer Rebellion, Marines in Peking held a position on the Tartar Wall south of the American Legation. Intense fire had driven them off the wall. Private Daly went back up with his company commander. On August 14 the officer left to bring up reinforcements, and Daly held the bastion by himself, fighting off snipers and repeated assaults until help arrived. That earned him his first Medal of Honor (DOD News).
Haiti, October 24, 1915
Fifteen years later, Gunnery Sergeant Daly was serving with the 15th Company (Mounted), 2nd Marine Regiment, in Haiti. On the night of October 24, his detachment was crossing a river in a deep ravine near Fort Dipitie when roughly 400 Caco fighters opened fire from three sides. The Marines fought their way to higher ground and held it all night. At daybreak Daly helped lead three squads forward in different directions. The attack scattered the enemy and helped take Fort Dipitie. It was his second Medal of Honor (Congressional Medal of Honor Society).
Belleau Wood, June 1918
He wasn't done. As a first sergeant in France, Daly put out a fire in an ammunition dump, single-handedly took an enemy machine-gun position, and brought in wounded under heavy fire. At Belleau Wood, with his Marines pinned down, he's remembered for leaping forward and shouting the most famous battle cry in Corps history: "Come on, you sons of b——, do you want to live forever?" He received the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Cross, along with French honors including the Médaille Militaire.
Why this story stays with me
Daly was offered a commission more than once and turned it down. He said he'd rather be an outstanding sergeant than just another officer. He called medals "a lot of foolishness" and hated the fuss. What he cared about was his Marines. That's the standard every NCO in the Corps still gets measured against. He died in 1937, the Navy named a destroyer after him in 1943, and his two Medals of Honor are at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
Sources: Marine Corps History Division · DOD News · Congressional Medal of Honor Society
