As Daly continued in his Marine Corps career, he was stationed at eight post in the United States and was assigned to numerous ships and saw combat in several countries, including leading a platoon of Marines ashore during the invasion of Veracruz, Mexico in 1914. Throughout his career, Daly would be offered an officer’s commission. But he would turn it down every time, saying that he would rather be an outstanding sergeant instead of just another officer.
In 1915, Daly deployed to Haiti to support the Haitian government’s battle against guerrillas known as Cacos. During the Battle of Fort Diptie on October 24, 1915, Daly and 37 other men who were mounted from the 15th Company of Marines were ambushed on three sides by 400 Cacos. As the Marines fought their way to high ground, they lost 12 horses and a mule that carried their only machine gun. Despite being under a barrage of fire, Daly voluntarily returned to the ravine to get the machine gun strapped to the dead mule, which returned getting past numerous enemy positions. Able to locate the machine gun, Daly returned with the heavy load of the machine gun and ammunition past more Cacos to the Marine position. During the next morning, three squads of Marines attacked the enemy from three different directions and surprised the Cacos, inflicting 75 casualties. Daly would receive his second Medal of Honor for this action.
In 1917, Daly, now 44 years old, would deploy to France with the American entry into World War I. Daly risked his life to extinguish a fire in an ammunition dump at Lucy-le-Bocage on June 5, 1918 and five days later assisted in a counterattack against the enemy at the Battle of Belleau Wood. The acting First Sergeant of 73rd Company, 6th Marines in support of another attack by the 1st Battalion, 6th marines, Daly is thought to have shouted to his men as they entered the wood, “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” Although Daly was recommended to receive another Medal of Honor, the AEF headquarters rejected the request, believing that no one should receive three Medals of Honor. Instead, Daly received the Distinguished Service Cross and later the Navy Cross.
Daly would leave the Marine Corps in 1929 and live a quiet life until he died in 1937. He received numerous decorations and medals during his Marine Corps career, including the China Relief Expedition Medal, the Philippine Campaign Medal, the Expeditionary Medal with one bronze star, the Mexican Service Medal, the Haitian Campaign Medal, the World War I Victory Medal with Aisne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Defensive-Sectors clasps, the French Médaille militaire, Croix de Guerre with Palm, and Fourragère. In 2005, the United States Postal Service included Daly on one of four Distinguished Marines stamps alongside John Basilone, John Lejeune, and Chesty Puller.
I had the challenging task of selecting just one extremely decorated service member from each branch, but I’d encourage you to read about the many other decorated U.S. service members like Colonel Edward Rickenbacker (Army Air Corps, World War I) and Lieutenant General Chesty Puller (USMC, World War II and Korean War). The stories of their valor and bravery are truly inspiring.