'The Actions That He Took Were Extraordinary': Fairfield World War II Hero Honored

FAIRFIELD, CT — On April 18, 1945, Fairfield resident Lt. Michael J. Daly was caught in machine-gun fire while leading his Army company through Nuremberg, Germany.

Daly ordered his men to take cover and ran forward alone, singlehandedly killing 15 German soldiers in an act that earned him the highest military award in the U.S., the Medal of Honor.

“The reason you get that award is because you take extraordinary risks in order to save your fellow man,” said Daly’s daughter, Deirdre Daly. “The actions that he took were extraordinary.”

Now, many decades later, Michael J. Daly, a lifelong Fairfield resident who eventually rose to the military rank of captain, will receive a hometown accolade in the form of a memorial plaque bearing his name at the base of the flagpole in front of Old Town Hall. The Board of Selectmen approved the plaque last week, and on Thursday town officials recognized Michael J. Daly at the annual Fairfield Veterans Day Ceremony.

“He was a courageous, courageous man,” Selectman Tom Flynn said at the recent board meeting, adding he hoped the plaque would raise awareness about Michael J. Daly and honor all local veterans.

Michael J. Daly, who died in 2008, was more than a military hero — he was a hero to Fairfield.

“He was someone that was very committed to giving back to the community,” Deirdre Daly said, noting her father spent 40 years as a board member at St. Vincent’s Medical Center and that the hospital’s emergency room is named after him.

“He set a very high bar and beautiful example for everyone in my family.”

However, Michael J. Daly did not think of himself as particularly heroic.

“He mostly talked about how the people that are the true heroes, the true heroes are the people that you don’t hear about,” Deirdre Daly said. “He would say that he didn’t really deserve all this recognition, so he was a very modest person.”

Michael J. Daly’s memorial plaque will be located near a similar plaque commemorating his close friend, former first selectman John Sullivan, Deirdre Daly noted.

“My family and I are very appreciative of the town’s kind recognition and remembrance of him,” she said of her father.