Maurice Francis Daly was born on July 20, 1901, in Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut. He was the son of Michael Daly and Mary Long Daly. He studied at Hartford Public High School, then attended Connecticut Agricultural College (now the University of Connecticut), and later the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he became a member of the West Point football coaching staff. He joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Connecticut and served as the commanding officer of the 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group during the defense of the Philippines.

Daly was stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines when Japanese forces attacked it on December 8, 1941 (one day after the Attack on Pearl Harbor). He participated in the defense of the base that day. However, he was taken prisoner in April 1942 when the American forces lost the Battle of Bataan and was held at PW Camp #1 in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija until December 1944, when he was transferred to the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. Records indicate that COL Daly survived the sinking of the Oryoku Maru and was eventually transferred to the Brazil Maru. He reportedly died of exposure and starvation on January 21, 1945, and was cremated at sea.

Col Daly's name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines. He also has a cenotaph in the Mount Saint Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA.

Source of information: en.wikipedia.org, dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/