He earned his first Medal of Honor during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 and the second in Haiti in 1915.

Pvt Daniel Daly was part of a contingent of Marines protecting the US embassy in Peking during an epic siege by Boxer insurgents. Buying time for his fellow Marines to consolidate their defensives, Daly volunteered to assume a post on the dangerously exposed ramparts of the Tartar Wall, acting as a one-man point of resistance between the American line and the Chinese onslaught. Armed with only a bolt-action rifle and a bayonet, Daly spent the night of 14 April 1900 alone on the wall, fighting off roving bands of attackers until dawn when reinforcements arrived.

On 24 Oct 1915, GySgt Daly was in Haiti with a patrol of mounted Marines in search of rebel strongholds. As they were about to cross a river, the men were ambushed by 400 Caco outlaws. They made it to the opposite shore, but lost the only machine gun, which they needed to survive. Under cover of night, Daly dove in the water until he located it, strapping it to his back and lugging it back through the enemy-infiltrated jungle. By dawn, the machine gun had been emplaced and the Marines were ready for the Cacos.