‘Worthy and Inspirational’ Daniel Penny Receives Prestigious Award

Sometimes, good things happen to good people.

They just have to go through a mile of hell to get there.

Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny, who became embroiled in a highly publicized manslaughter trial, was awarded the Semper Fidelis achievement award by the Marine Corps League, according to Fox News.

The commendation came Wednesday during an Iwo Jima Day event in Boston.

“We believe that Daniel Penny and [his] attorneys [Steve] Raiser and [Thomas] Kenniff deserve such recognition and hope that they will consent to accept these awards,” Marine Corp League member John M. MacGillivray said, according to Fox.

MacGillivray added that the trio was made up of “worthy and inspirational recipients.”

The three men most certainly did accept the awards, as attorneys Raiser and Kenniff traveled with Penny to Boston for the ceremonies.

Kenniff took to social media platform X for a gracious post about it all:

Special day being honored at Iwo Jima Day at the Massachusetts State House today. Privileged to meet surviving WWII veterans and Brig Gen Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse, a member of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen pic.twitter.com/v6rUCSztRi

— Thomas Kenniff (@tomkenniff) February 19, 2025

“Special day being honored at Iwo Jima Day at the Massachusetts State House today,” Kenniff posted, alongside some photos, Wednesday. “Privileged to meet surviving WWII veterans and Brig Gen Enoch ‘Woody’ Woodhouse, a member of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen.”

According to Fox, Kenniff said Woodhouse shook Penny’s hand and told him, “I’m proud of you, son,” — which wasn’t exactly a common sentiment not that long ago.

Penny became a household name after his reputation was viciously dragged through the mud for apprehending a threatening subway vagrant.

The heroic marine confronted Jordan Neely during a May 2023 encounter in a New York subway. At the time, Neely was acting erratically and threatening the lives of other straphangers.

Penny helped subdue Neely. The latter died in the aftermath of the struggle — and leftists immediately pounced on Penny.

Most of the fingers pointing at Penny tried to paint a picture of him as some sort of unhinged racist vigilante.

(Some still do today.)

The emotionally charged and hotly spotlighted trial captured national attention because the case involved one of the left’s absolute favorite topics: Race. Penny, a white man, was involved in the death of a black man, so you already know leftists had their marching orders on whom to vilify and whom to canonize.

Little did those buffoons consider what sort of message this crusade was sending.

Think about it: If there is a mentally disturbed individual threatening to kill swathes of people if he doesn’t get a Coca-Cola, would you want a potential good Samaritan to think, “I need to act and save these people,” or, “Oh, shoot, I’m only 1/16th Native American and he looks like he’s half-Hispanic and half-black. I probably shouldn’t intervene …”?

Thankfully, most jurors appeared to ask themselves that very question, as Penny was acquitted of both manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in December 2024.

Daniel Penny speaks to The Post following his not-guilty verdict https://t.co/ERxrpkAC9Y pic.twitter.com/ncUyudcxMb

— New York Post (@nypost) December 9, 2024

It’s absolutely abhorrent that Penny was ever subjected to this sort of nonsense, but it’s equally heartening to see how much positive recognition he is getting now. Just look at his smile in the above video.

Penny’s well-earned award on Wednesday, after all of that, could be extra special in the annals of the Marine Corps League.

Sadly, organizers of the event told Fox that Iwo Jima Day may not be celebrated much longer, due to the shrinking number of Marine survivors who are still living.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.