By Larry Foerster, chair of the Montgomery County Historical Commission
Happy birthday today to one of our nation’s greatest heroes, Daniel Daly. Before Audie Murphy, there was Dan Daly. Today is Veterans Day. This is the day we honor all our veterans who served, whether in war or peacetime. Memorial Day is the day in May to honor our military dead. This day is for honoring those who are willing to die. The minute you put on the military uniform, you agree to die for our nation. We have lost a lot of respect in America for our values and principles. I hope we never stop respecting those who serve.
Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day. It marks the day World War I ended with an armistice. President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed it to Veterans Day to honor all who wear the uniform and serve honorably.
Nineteen people have received the Medal of Honor twice. It cannot happen again. The rules have been changed to prohibit a military service member from receiving it more than once. In the days before World War I, the Medal of Honor was, for many years, the only medal given out, so quite a few Medals of Honor were awarded when the battle action wasn’t necessarily beyond the call of duty. Many of these awards were given during the period after the Civil War and before World War I.
Some civilians received the Medal of Honor, and some of those awards were later revoked, as were others following reviews that determined the awards had been excessive. Some of the civilian awards were later reinstated, including those of Buffalo Bill Cody and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Walker was a surgeon during the Civil War who received the Medal of Honor, had it revoked and later had it reinstated.
Some fathers and sons have received the Medal of Honor, including Arthur MacArthur (Civil War) and his son, Douglas MacArthur (World War II), and Theodore Roosevelt (Spanish-American War) and his son, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (World War II). Roosevelt also lost a son who died in service in the Army Air Service during World War I. Quite a family!
Of the 19 people who received two Medals of Honor, including Tom Custer, the brother of George Armstrong Custer, only Dan Daly was nominated for THREE Medals of Honor. Daly would have deserved all three. Gen. Smedley Butler, the only other Marine who received two Medals of Honor, said, “Daly was the fightinest Marine I ever knew. It was an object lesson to have served with him!”
Daly was born on this date, Nov. 11, 1873, in New York City. He worked as a newsboy growing up. Daly would only grow to be 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weigh 135 pounds, but he proved it “isn’t the size of the man, but the fight in the man.”
Daly boxed as a youth and became a semiprofessional boxer. He was reportedly a very good boxer and could have turned professional. But growing up, he read stories of America’s war heroes, and he wanted to serve. He entered the Marines on Jan. 10, 1899, at the age of 25. He wanted to go to Cuba to fight in the Spanish-American War, but he missed it. He joined the Asiatic Fleet just in time for the Boxer Rebellion.
The Boxer Rebellion is largely forgotten today. I can only think of one movie about that era, and that is The Sand Pebbles. When I was a kid, I was in Galveston, and they were filming part of it at the Battleship Texas. I remember being so disappointed. They used University of Houston students as extras, and they were walking around in paper Navy uniforms. They later cut the part filmed there.
During our “imperialistic” era, the U.S. was acquiring foreign lands and islands. China had been opened decades earlier to foreigners for some trade, but much of the foreign presence involved Christian missionaries. A radical group, nicknamed the Boxers, wanted Westerners and Japanese out of China. They started a rebellion, killing missionaries and businessmen. Many were young men.
The foreign legations in Beijing became a safe haven for a large group of people trying to escape the violence. When the Boxers surrounded the area, a party went out for help. A detachment was supposed to guard the compound and not leave it, but during the fighting, Daly found himself alone defending a section of the wall.
Hundreds of Boxers attacked. Daly fought like a wildcat. Some accounts said he had only his rifle, while others said he also had a machine gun. Whatever happened, the attackers could approach only a few at a time, and many were armed with knives and spears. Daly held them off through the night. According to some reports, when relief came, more than 200 Boxers lay dead outside the wall.
Daly received his first Medal of Honor for his actions during the Boxer Rebellion. He helped save many lives that day.
Daly was already a legend when he headed to the Philippines and later to Haiti to fight in another conflict during what became known as the Banana Wars. While serving aboard a ship, he reportedly helped extinguish a fire near an ammunition magazine, preventing a possible explosion. Daly received a commendation from the secretary of the Navy for his actions.
Daly received his second Medal of Honor in Haiti while fighting insurgents in 1915. His commander was Smedley Butler. Daly and a group of about 40 Marines were scouting when they were ambushed by hundreds of rebels. The horse carrying their machine gun was killed as the men crossed a river. After making it across, the Marines found themselves surrounded on three sides.
Daly went back to the river that night, recovered the machine gun from the dead horse and carried it back to his men. The Marines cleaned and reassembled the weapon and continued fighting the rebels. Daly’s actions helped save his fellow Marines, and he received his second Medal of Honor. He also killed a number of Cacos rebels during the fighting.
When America entered World War I, Daly was 43 years old. He was a sergeant, and though he seemed too old to serve, he could out-hike or outfight most of his men. He fought in campaigns near the Aisne River in France.
During the Battle of Belleau Wood, Daly demonstrated extraordinary bravery. On June 6, the Marines were facing German troops across no man’s land, and they were outnumbered. These were some of Germany’s best men. Daly constantly rallied his men.
Alone, he attacked Germans attempting to establish a machine gun position near his troops. He threw grenades and killed several German soldiers. Armed with his .45-caliber pistol, he also captured a group of German prisoners. Later, he raced into the open to rescue a seriously wounded Marine, carrying him to safety.
For his actions, Daly was recommended for a third Medal of Honor, but instead received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross, two of the nation’s highest awards for valor. He also received the French Médaille Militaire.
During the Battle of Belleau Wood, the Marines charged the German lines. According to witnesses, Daly yelled a line that would become famous in Marine Corps and military lore. He jumped to the top of the trench and shouted, “Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?”
Today, the quote is displayed at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Daly later said his actual words were, “For Christ’s sake, come on, men. Do you want to live forever?”
Whatever he said, he was one fighting son of a bitch.
During the Meuse-Argonne offensive, Daly was wounded by a bullet in the shoulder and shrapnel in his legs. He had fought in campaign after campaign and a major war. Daly was reportedly offered opportunities to become an officer, but he refused to leave his men. He preferred serving as a noncommissioned officer.
Daly left active service in 1919 and officially retired from the Marine Corps in 1929 with the rank of sergeant major.
Daly never married. He worked as a bank guard for years, lived with his sister and avoided publicity. He died of a heart attack April 27, 1937, in Glendale, New York. He is buried at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn.
A Navy destroyer was named for Daly in 1943, and he has been honored on a U.S. postage stamp.
Happy Veterans Day, and thank you to all the veterans reading this.
Happy birthday, Daniel Daly.