Michael J. Daly

Michael Joseph Daly (September 15, 1924 – July 25, 2008) was an Irish-American United States Army infantry officer who received the United States military's highest decoration for valor—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II. He received the medal for single-handedly eliminating 15 German soldiers including a German patrol, and destroying three machine-gun nests.

Daly resigned from the United States Military Academy after one year to fight in World War II and was sent to Europe, participating in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach. After the D-Day invasion, he fought on to Germany where he was wounded. He received a battlefield commission to second lieutenant, returned to combat, and was awarded the Medal of Honor.

After being presented the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at the White House by President Harry S. Truman, Daly went back to his hometown, started a family, and became a businessman. He died of cancer at his home in 2008, at the age of 83.

Early life Daly was born September 15, 1924, in New York City, but resided his entire life in Fairfield, Connecticut, except for one year he and his wife lived in County Wicklow, Ireland. His father, Colonel Paul Daly, was a World War I and World War II veteran who was a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross and was also nominated for the Medal of Honor twice, but did not receive it. His great-grandfather Thomas F. Gilroy was an Irish immigrant who was the mayor of New York City in the 1890s. Michael Daly had three brothers, Gilroy, Daniel and Dermot and three sisters, Madeleine Potter, Bevin Patterson and Alison Gerard. While he was at the academy he was, by his own admission, a mediocre student. After having severe disciplinary problems and continuously being placed on special confinement and walking off punishment tours he resigned his appointment after only one year to fight in World War II. Sent to Europe as an eighteen-year-old infantry private, he trained in England and took part in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach with the 1st Infantry Division. alt=A black and white image of troops leaving an amphibious troop transport. They are walking through the water to a beach. Into the Jaws of Death: Troops from the First Division landing on Omaha Beach – photograph by Robert F. Sargent Daly participated in the drive through France and was wounded in Aachen, Germany, and was sent to England to recover. After he recovered, he was reassigned to the 3rd Infantry Division and was given a battlefield commission to second lieutenant. A Democrat, he also supported the political careers of his brother, Judge T. F. Gilroy Daly, and friend, town politician John J. Sullivan, but dismissed suggestions to run for office himself. The 10th Mountain Division of Fort Drum and the United States Military Academy of West Point performed the ceremony. The ceremony included a three-round volley and West Point's bugle sounding "Taps" as preludes to a military helicopter flying over the cemetery. His service records are one of the approximately 16–18 million individuals whose military service records were destroyed in the blaze. As a consequence, what follows below is an incomplete list of his military awards either confirmed or thought to have been awarded to Daly:

alt=A metal device depicting a blue bar with a rifle, in front of a wreath of silver leaves.

Combat Infantryman BadgeMedal of HonorSilver Starwith 2 bronze oak leaf clustersBronze Starwith "V" devicePurple Heartwith bronze oak leaf clusterAmerican Campaign MedalEuropean–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medalwith Arrowhead device and three bronze campaign starsWorld War II Victory Medal

Army Presidential Unit Citation

Medal of Honor Captain Daly's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

In 2007, Daly along with nine other Connecticut veterans were inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame and at the time he was one of only two living inductees who had received the Medal of Honor.

Mr. Daly is a U.S. Army veteran of World War II who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for extreme heroism while leading his infantry company through the shell-battered, sniper-infested wreckage of Nuremberg, Germany, in April 1945. Following his distinctive military service, he became very involved in veterans' and community affairs, serving on the Board of Directors of St. Vincent's Hospital and founding the hospital's Daly Foundation. He has also provided decades of volunteer service to handicapped children, the Town of Fairfield and served as a member of the Connecticut Judicial Review Council.