China Relief (Boxer Rebellion) Medal of Honor Recipient. He received the award on May 11, 1902 at the Marine garrison in Cavite, Philippine Islands for his actions as a sergeant in the 1st Regiment, 9th US Infantry, US Marine Corps on July 13, 1900, during the Battle of Tientsin, China, during the Boxer Rebellion. Born to Irish immigrant parents, his father was a coal miner. With no desire to work in the mines, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1888 and re-enlisted five years later. When the Spanish-American War broke out in April 1898, he was sent to Cuba. Following the end of the war, he was assigned to the Philippines where he participated in the Philippine-American War. In 1900 he was part of a contingent of about 300 US Marines and 3,100 US Army troops sent to China as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance in response to the anti-imperialist uprising (participants known as "Boxers"), intent on murdering all foreigners there. He was placed at Tientsin, which came under siege by the Boxers who outnumbered them. Under heavy fire, he and three other US Marines rescued a wounded officer on the battlefield and brought him to safety at a field hospital three miles away. For this gallant action, he won the Medal of Honor. Following his service in China, he was assigned to the Culebra Naval Station, Culebra, Puerto Rico, where he died from a heart attack at the age of 44. In addition to the Medal of Honor, he received the Spanish Campaign Medal, The Philippine Campaign Medal, and the China Relief Expedition Medal. His Medal of Honor citation reads: "The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Alexander Joseph Foley, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 1st Regiment (Marines), in action in the presence of the enemy in the battle near Tientsin, China, 13 July 1900. Sergeant Foley distinguished himself by meritorious conduct."