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Posted on 11/11/2001 5:32:41 AM PST by gunnyg

SERGEANT MAJOR
DANIEL ("DAN") DALY, USMC
(DECEASED)

Sergeant Major Daniel ("Dan") Daly was once acclaimed by Major General John A. Lejeune, former Commandant of the Marine Corps, as "the outstanding Marine of all time." General Smedley D. Butler called him "The fightinest Marine I ever knew," and wrote that "it was an object lesson to have served with "him."

This kind of praise was generally expressed by Marine officers and enlisted men alike and, according to the record, "Dan" Daly deserved it.

Sergeant Daly and General Butler are the only Marines who ever received the Nation's highest military award-the Medal of Honor-twice for separate acts of heroism.

A small man (five feet, six inches in height and weighing only 132 pounds), Daly nevertheless was a fine military figure, erect and well-proportioned. His keen gray eyes looked upon danger without fear. Although a "natural" for publicity, he disdained it and disliked all the fuss made over him. He termed medals "a lot of foolishness." Personally be enjoyed a pipe, crammed with cut plug tobacco, but did not drink.

Daly was a strict disciplinarian, yet fair-minded and very popular among both officers and enlisted men. He was noted not only for his reckless daring, but also for his constant attention to the needs of his men. Offered a commission on several occasions, he is said to have declined on the grounds that he would rather be "an outstanding sergeant than just another officer."

Dan Daly is perhaps best remembered for a famous battle cry delivered during the desperate fighting in Belleau Wood in June 1918. Marines took a terrific pounding on the outskirts of Lucy le Bocage ("Lucy Birdcage" to the A.E.F.) at the fringe of Belleau Wood. They were outnumbered, outgunned and pinned down. Then Daly made history. He ordered an attack. Leaping forward, he yelled to his tired men, "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?"

Very little is known about Daly's early life other than the fact of his birth in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, on 11 November 1873, and the fact that he was a newsboy and something of a fighter for his weight and size.

With the hope getting into the Spanish-American War, Daly enlisted in the Marine Corps on 10 January 1899. But he didn't make it. Before he had finished boot-camp training, the war had collapsed and he was ordered aboard ship and sent to the Asiatic Fleet.

In May 1900, he shipped aboard the USS Newark for Taku Bay, China, where he landed with other Marines and entrained for Peking. The American Marines and Germans had been stationed on Tartar Wall, south of the American Legation, but intense enemy fire had driven them from the position. With Captain Hall, Daly mounted the wall bastion, bayoneted rifle in hand. On August 14, Captain Hall left to bring up reinforcements and Daly remained to defend the position single-handed. Chinese snipers fired at him and stormed the bastion, but he fought them off until reinforcements arrived. For this gallantry he was awarded his first Medal of Honor.

Fifteen years later, in action against Haitian bandits, Sergeant Daly earned the rare distinction being awarded a second Medal of Honor. The citation accompanying the award states:
"Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly, United States Marine Corps, on the night of October 24, 1915, three officers and 35 enlisted men were attacked by 400 Cacos while crossing a river in a deep ravine concealed in bushes about 100 yards from a fort. The Marine detachment fought its way forward to a good position which it maintained during the night, although subjected to a continuous fire from the Cacos.

"At daybreak the Marines in three squads under the command of Captain Upshur, Lieutenant Osterman and Gunnery Sergeant Daly advanced in three different directions, surprising and scattering the enemy in all directions. Had one squad failed, not one man of the party would have lived to tell the tale. Gunnery Sergeant Daly, 15th Company, during the operations was the most consipicuous figure among the enlisted men."

Dan Daly's service was varied and included sea duty aboard the USS Newark, Panther, Cleveland, Marietta, Mississippi, Ohio, and Machias. In addition to combat in China, Haiti and France, he served in Panama, Cuba, Vera Cruz, Mexico and Puerto Rico, and on eight United States posts.

During World War I, Daly served from 4 November 1917 to 21 April 1919, participating in combat in the Toulon Sector (March-May 1918); Aisne Operations (June 1918); and the Chateau-Thierry Sector (Belleau Wood, June 1918). During this operation, on June 5 and at the risk of his life, he extinguished a fire in the ammunition dump at Lucy le Bocage. Two days later, while the same sector was under one of its heaviest bombardments, he visited all machine gun crews of his company, then posted over a wide section of the front, cheering his men. On June 10, single-handed, he attacked an enemy machine gun emplacement, capturing it by the use of hand grenades and an automatic pistol. On the same date, during an enemy attack on the village of Bouresches, he brought in wounded under heavy fire.

Sergeant Daly also served in the St. Mihiel Offensive (September 1918) and the Champagne Offensive (Blanc Mont, September-October 1918). He was wounded in action on June 21 and twice on 8 October 1918. He then served with the American Army of Occupation in Germany following the Armistice, which he considered "not a bad birthday present."

A complete list of Sergeant Major Daniel Daly's decorations and medals includes the Medal of Honor (Navy) (1900-Peking, China); Medal of Honor (Navy) (1915-Haiti); Navy Cross (1918-Belleau Woods); Distinguished Service Cross; Letter of Commendation (Secretary of the Navy); Letter of Commendation (Secretary of the Navy); Letter 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; World War I Victory Medal with Aisne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Defensive-Sector clasps; Medaille Militaire; Croix de Guerre with Palm; and the Fourragere (the last three awards from the French government).

Daly remained unmarried all his life. In 1919 he was reported as saying, "I can't see how a single man could spend his time to better advantage than in the Marines." Soon thereafter he was placed on the retainer list of the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve, awaiting retirement. He took a job as a bank guard on Wall Street, New York City, and held the position 17 years.

Retired officially on 6 February 1929, Sergeant Major Daniel ("Dan") Daly died at Glendale, Long Island, New York, 28 April 1937. His remains were buried in Cypress Hills.

Today a destroyer bears Daly's name. His record as a fighting man remains unequalled in the annals of Marine Corps history.
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