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On Aug. 14, 1900, during the epic 56-day siege of the international compound, a fierce Boxer assault pushed back a German outpost, which created an open flank for the American position. In order to buy time to reestablish the defensive line, Daly volunteered to assume a lone post on the Tartar Wall, about 100 yards in front of the Marines’ main line. Armed with only a bolt-action rifle and a bayonet, he spent the night alone on the dangerously exposed position while the poorly armed Chinese repeatedly attacked him. By morning the front of Daly’s position was littered with the bodies of dead Boxers. Marine Corps legend puts the number at around 200, which is undoubtedly an exaggeration—though probably not that much of one. In a masterpiece of understatement, Daly’s Medal of Honor citation reads, Daly distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

In 1915 the 42-year-old gunnery sergeant participated in the peacekeeping Haiti Campaign. On October 22, he was the senior NCO of a reconnaissance patrol of 38 mounted Marines sent into the interior of the island to locate the Fort Dipitie and Fort Capois strongholds of the Cacos rebels. At dusk on the 24th some 400 Cacos ambushed the small force as it was crossing a river in a deep jungle ravine. The Marines managed to get ashore without losing a man, but they lost 12 horses and the mule carrying their only machine gun. Moving away from river, Daly pulled his troops into a tight defensive perimeter.

Once the perimeter was established, Daly slipped outside the Marine lines and made his way back to the river in the dark. Along the way he silently knifed several Cacos waiting in ambush. Reaching the riverbank, Daly slipped into the water and repeatedly dove to find the patrol’s machine gun. Working in the dark and under Cacos fire, Daly finally located the dead mule, detached the machine gun and ammunition, and brought the load ashore in several trips. He then picked up the 200-pound load—which outweighed him by nearly double(Daly was 5'6" and weighted 130 pounds)—and returned through the jungle past more Cacos to the Marine position. Before daylight he assembled and emplaced the machine gun. When dawn broke, the Marines moved out and attacked Fort Dipitie, killing 75 Cacos and scattering the rest. It was this action that earned him his second MOH.

Daly had arrived in France in November 1917 as first sergeant of the 73rd Machine Gun Company, 6th Marine Regiment, which along with the 5th Marines formed the 4th Marine Brigade under the command of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division. On June 5, 1918, during the Battle of Belleau Wood, the 44-year-old Daly risked his life to extinguish a fire in an ammunition dump near Lucy-le-Bocage.

Two days later, with Marine positions under heavy German bombardment, Daly visited all his machine gun positions, rallying his men. At one point, while leading a local counterattack, Daly urged his men forward, shouting the now famous line, “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?!” On June 10 a German machine gun section advanced close to Daly’s company and pinned it down. Daly, armed with only a .45-caliber automatic pistol and hand grenades, single-handedly charged and eliminated the Germans. Later that day he brought in under heavy fire several wounded Marines during a German attack near the village of Bouresches.
Daly was wounded on June 21 but later fought in the St-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives. He was wounded twice more on October 8, which took him out of combat. For his actions at the Battle of Belleau Wood, Daly was recommended through Army channels for his third Medal of Honor. Someone in the chain of command, however, just could not accept the idea of anyone having three Medals of Honor, so Daly was instead