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| -Obits- |
| MOH Recipient M.J. Daly RIP |
| 2008-07-26 |
| Michael J. Daly, a lifetime resident of Fairfield and a Medal of Honor recipient in World War II, died at home today. He was 83. The cause of death, according to a relative, was pancreatic cancer. President Harry S. Truman placed the blue ribbon of the Congressional Medal of Honor around the neck of 20-year-old Capt. Daly at the White House on Aug. 23, 1945. The award gave the modest Daly an aura of celebrity, which thereafter caused him some embarrassment. "I'm no hero," he often said. "The heroes were those who gave their lives." During World War II, which he entered as an 18-year-old infantry private, Daly was awarded the Silver Star twice for bravery in addition to the Medal of Honor. The latter came following his actions at the siege of Nuremberg in April 1945 with the Third Division of the Seventh Army. Leading his infantry company through the rubble and exposing himself to enemy fire over and over, he eliminated three machine-gun positions, killing 15 of the enemy, with his own small carbine. "Anybody would have done what I did," he later told a friend. "Luck is important in life. But in combat it is crucial. The bravest things are often done with God the only witness." Following the war, Daly returned to Fairfield and began a business life as a salesmen for an oil company. He soon after commenced an independent entrepreneurial career that proved to be rewarding for him and to the many others whom he helped along the way. Michael Daly & Associates had a small office on Harbor Road in Southport and the associates were most often his many friends. Daly was notably proud of his association with the St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, for which he helped to raise considerable financial support for many years. A Democrat, he flirted with politics but declined invitations to run for office although encouraging to his brother, the late Judge T.F. Gilroy Daly, in the latter's unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1982. Daly was also supportive of Fairfield's longtime first selectman, his friend John J. Sullivan, who earned election as a Democrat in a town with a Republican majority for a record 12 terms. Daly is survived by his wife of 50 years, Margaret Wallace Daly; his daughter, Deirdre Daly; his son, Michael of Fairfield; son-in-law, Alfred Pavlis; grandsons Michael, Nicholas and William, all of Fairfield; sisters, Bevan Daly Patterson of Garrison, N.Y., and Alison Daly Gerard of New York City; a stepson, W. Sanford Miller of Chadds Ford, Pa., and a stepdaughter, Blair Miller of Asheville, N.C. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #2 At least now he gets to vote. |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** 2008-07-26 21:26 |
| #1 Heroes are also humble. RIP |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-07-26 20:05 |