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. Daly and Major General Smedley Butler are the only Marines who earned two Medals of Honor for two separate acts of valor.
Daly is among the most decorated U.S. Marines in history, and over a thirty year career saw action in all the major Marine Corps campaigns from 1899 to the end of World War I. He earned his first Medal of Honor during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and the second in Haiti in 1915. Butler described Daly as "the fightingest Marine I ever knew...It was an object lesson to have served with him." General John A. Lejeune called Daly "the outstanding Marine of all time."
In World War I, Daly became further cemented into Marine Corps 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, though there is considerable evidence that the battle cry was the invention of an enthusiastic war correspondent. He was also awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in France.
Daly's Medals of Honor are on display at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia, which also features the "live forever" quote etched in the stone of the building's rotunda.
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 and a laborer.
Military career
Early career
thumb|250px|The USS Newark in 1898
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 Newark arrived in China as part of the China Relief Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion. A working party, scheduled to follow to construct defenses, never arrived. Daly volunteered to hold the position while Captain Hall returned for the working party, and single-handedly fought off a furious all-night Boxer attack, an action which earned him his first Medal of Honor.