Daniel Penny, the Marine finally vindicated from false charges of murdering serial criminal Jordan Neely, just received a prestigious Marine Corps award.
Penny was acquitted last year after a highly charged case, following his restraint of a dangerous criminal on the New York subway, who subsequently died of drug-related complications. Crazed leftists smeared the young Marine as racist, but many conservatives across the country admired Penny’s insistence that he would not have changed his actions for anything, prioritizing the safety of other people over his own security and freedom. And that’s the self-sacrificial heroism the Marine Corps League wanted to honor.
The league, according to a statement attorney Steve Raiser shared with New York Post, “honored Danny for representing the Esprit De Corps of the Marines, defined by selfless service and sacrifice, when he risked his life by defending the people on that NYC train and we in turn successfully defended Danny from a prosecution that never should have been sought.”
Raiser and his fellow defense attorney, Thomas Kenniff, received appreciation plaques for their successful defense of Penny. “We were honored and humbled to be in the same room being honored alongside many veterans of prior wars, including an Iwo Jima veteran and a retired general who served as one of the Tuskegee Airmen,” Raiser stated.
Daniel Penny receives prestigious award from Marine Corps League at Iwo Jima event https://t.co/7Q0WSxB2fF pic.twitter.com/LQKd2Kl3Yj
— New York Post (@nypost) February 19, 2025
Read Also: UK Quran Burner in Jail as His Stabber Is Released on Bail
The Semper Fidelis award, named after the Marine Corps’ Latin motto meaning “Always Faithful,” goes to “worthy and inspirational recipients.” It is given at an annual event that is likely to end within the next couple of years.
The annual event — which may be in its final year — is held to recognize the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima, a five-week-long campaign that left 7,000 Marines dead and 20,000 wounded… American forces eventually seized the island from the Japanese Imperial Army, moving the Allies one step closer to finally ending World War II.
But time — the undefeated killer — has left only a few veterans able to attend such commemorations.
The WWII generation is passing on, leaving their fight for freedom to a new generation. The New York Post stated that 99-year-old Joe Cappuccio was the only WWII veteran of Iwo Jima to make it to the Massachusetts State House for the ceremony. “This may well be the last time that we conduct this ceremony,” said Marine Corps League’s John M. MacGillivray. That makes Penny’s and his attorneys’ awards that much more meaningful.
Penny received a compliment just as honorable as an award when Brigadier General Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse, a Tuskegee airman, shook hands with him outside the State House and, looking Penny in the eye, stated simply, “I’m proud of you, son.”
Woodhouse had to stand up to the unjust prejudice of his generation. Penny had to endure the unjust prejudice of his. But both men were and are greater than their times. God bless our American military heroes.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member