When he was left alone on the walls of the besieged embassy in Beijing in 1900, no one gave him a chance of survival. Fifteen years later, he pulled a 90-kilogram machine gun out of a river under enemy fire. And in 1918, he shouted a sentence that would forever go down in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. Dan Daly proved that the greatness of a soldier is not measured in centimeters.
Street Kid Who Became a Boxer
Irish roots and a New York childhood shaped Dan Daly in their own way. Before he turned twenty, he had worked as a newspaper boy and laborer in Glen Cove on Long Island. His slight build was deceptive—he weighed as much as an average teenage girl, but he could use every kilogram in the semi-professional boxing ring.
In January 1899, at age 25, he joined the Marine Corps. His first assignment was aboard the cruiser USS Newark with the Asiatic Fleet. No one suspected then that this unassuming private would enter history as one of the most decorated Marines of all time.
The summer of 1900 brought the Boxer Rebellion to China, and with it Daly’s first chance to prove his worth. During the 55-day siege of the embassy quarters in Beijing, Private Daly went out on a reconnaissance mission with Captain Newt Hall along the Tartar Wall.
The work detail that was supposed to follow them and build fortifications never arrived. The captain returned for reinforcements, and Daly volunteered to stay. He was left alone on the wall with a repeating rifle and a bayonet.
That night, the Boxers launched a fierce attack on his position. When the sun rose over Beijing, Daly was still at his post. Around him lay about two hundred enemy bodies. For that single night, he received his first Medal of Honor.
Heroic Deed
Fifteen years later, in Haiti, Sergeant Daly served under Major Smedley Butler fighting the Cacos rebels. On the night of October 24–25, 1915, a patrol of forty Marines fell into an ambush of about four hundred rebels while crossing a river near Fort Dipitié. The horse carrying the patrol’s only heavy machine gun was shot, and its body, along with the weapon, sank.
Butler had already resigned himself to fighting without this weapon. Daly had not. In the middle of battle, Daly swam across the river under continuous fire, located the animal at the bottom, released the machine gun from the harness, and carried ninety kilograms of equipment over a mile back to the Marine position.
Butler himself later wrote that he would not have had the courage to attempt such a feat. At dawn, with the retrieved machine gun and Daly commanding one of the sub-units, the Marines smashed the Cacos forces and captured the fort. The second Medal of Honor went to the sergeant’s chest.
The Century-Enduring Phrase
June 1918, Belleau Wood near Paris. The Americans faced more numerous and better-armed Germans. Daly, now a staff sergeant major, had to lead his men into attack. What exactly did he shout before the charge? Legend has it: „Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?”
Some historians suspect those words were invented by an overzealous war reporter. But does it really matter? The phrase is now etched in stone in the rotunda of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Virginia.
Daly left service in February 1929, after thirty years in uniform. In addition to two Medals of Honor, he wore the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross, and the French Croix de Guerre. The American destroyer USS Daly still bears his name to this day.
General John Lejeune did not hesitate to call him „the most outstanding Marine of all time.” Looking at Dan Daly’s life, it is hard to disagree.
Autor
Marcus Renfell
Marcus Renfell is a historian driven by curiosity and passion. He refuses to accept the “safe,” polished versions of the past. Instead, he brings forgotten, overlooked, and distorted stories back to life. His work blends scholarly precision with the art of storytelling, turning historical narratives into vivid, page-turning experiences.
His mission is simple: to prove that history can be gripping, alive, and deeply personal.
His debut book: Women of Science. Stories You Were Never Told
In his first publication, Marcus Renfell shines a light on the remarkable women who shaped the world of science — both the pioneers whose names we know and the brilliant minds history forgot. It’s an inspiring journey through untold stories, groundbreaking achievements, and the resilience of women who changed our understanding of the world.
? Discover Women of Science. Stories You Were Never Toldon Amazon.com.