I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Marine praised by Bush won't get Medal of Honor By CHELSEA J. CARTER, AP Military Affairs Writer
Thu Sep 18, 5:52 AM ET



A Marine sergeant singled out by President Bush for throwing his body on a grenade to save his comrades in Iraq will receive the prestigious Navy Cross rather than the nation's highest military award, military officials said.

The family of Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who was posthumously nominated for the nation's highest military honor, told the North County Times of Escondido, Calif., they were disappointed he was not receiving the Medal of Honor.

"I don't understand why if the president has been talking about him," his mother, Rosa Peralta, told the newspaper, which was the first to report the bestowing of the Navy Cross.

Rosa Peralta said she was informed during a meeting with Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski that a committee could not agree on awarding the Medal of Honor to her son, who Marine Corps officials say was first wounded by friendly fire. She said the general mentioned the friendly fire aspect as part of her son's death during the discussion.

Marine Corps spokesman Mike Alvarez confirmed the meeting, saying only that it was a personal briefing between Natonski and Rosa Peralta to inform her that the secretary of the Navy would award the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism.

The Navy Cross is the second highest honor for combat heroism a Marine can receive.

The secretary of the Navy's public affairs office in Washington, D.C., did not immediately return an after-hours telephone call Wednesday seeking comment.

Headquarters Marine Corps spokesman Maj. David Nevers told The Associated Press that the Navy Cross for Peralta "is not bestowed lightly."

Nevers said only 23 sailors and Marines out of the thousands who have served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have received the Navy Cross.

"The awarding of a medals of valor is a methodical process and carefully conducted to ensure the sacrifice and service of our Marines and sailors is appropriately honored," he said.

Peralta was shot several times in the face and body during a house-to-house search in Fallujah on Nov. 15, 2004, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

According to a report by a Marine combat photographer who witnessed the act, Peralta lay wounded on the floor of a house and grabbed a grenade that had been lobbed by an insurgent. He absorbed the blast with his body, dying instantly.

In 2005, Natonski, then-commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, ordered an investigation to determine the source of a bullet fragment recovered from Peralta's body.

"Following multiple and exhaustive reviews, the evidence supports the finding that Peralta was likely hit by 'friendly fire,'" the Marine Corps said Wednesday in a press release. "This finding had no bearing on the decision to award the Navy Cross medal."

Bush cited Peralta's heroism in a Memorial Day speech in 2005, saying the Marine "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them."

Peralta, who was assigned to Hawaii's 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, moved to San Diego from Tijuana as a teenager. He was 25.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

I *just* posted this (I'll take mine down). I think it's sad too. Despite the fact that he was already seriously (probably fatally) wounded, he had the where-with-all (or however you write that phrase) to take a live grenade and use his body as a shield to protect his men. To me, that was a selfless and heroic act. I truly hope that they change the decision to give him the Medal of Honor... he deserves it.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

this brought me to tears

i'm sad and angry!

i hope they change their minds

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

this man is a hero & definitely deserves it!

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

I really pray that they honor him. What an injustice if they don't. He clearly deserves it.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Posted by CoopersMom01

I *just* posted this (I'll take mine down). I think it's sad too. Despite the fact that he was already seriously (probably fatally) wounded, he had the where-with-all (or however you write that phrase) to take a live grenade and use his body as a shield to protect his men. To me, that was a selfless and heroic act. I truly hope that they change the decision to give him the Medal of Honor... he deserves it.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

what more do you have to do to receive the Medal of Honor? theyre denying this based on a technicality. thats ridiculous! he gave his life to protect others. thats all that should matter. he deserves better treatment than this.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

So sad. Hopefully they will reconsider with all the publicity this is getting. Shame on them.

Did anyone see the video tribute they played for him at the Republican National Convention? I couldn't stop crying. At his funeral every Marine who was in the area came. As they each filed by the casket they hammered their USMC emblem into it with their fists. It was covered in them.

Message edited 9/18/2008 11:33:46 AM.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

that's gross

if he doesn't desserve it- no one does

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

I just spoke to my brother, to ask him if he knew him since they were both in Fallujah around the same time.

He said he didn't (my brothers unit, 2/2 out of Lejeune) left in October.

what he did say was it was complete ********. he should have been given the Medal of honor.

I didn't want to comment personally until I spoke to him b/c I honestly don't know enough about it to say what the level of "deservedness" is for the MoH....but he does.

It touches me deeply b/c young men like this one are what got my brother home safe to me. I greive their deaths with a twinge of guilt b/c I am also happy to have my brother home. I can't imagine a more honorable thing to do than to save your brothers in arms by sacrificing yourself.

while receiving the Navy Cross is an extreme honor...I do wonder what else he could of done to be more deserving...I cannot think of a single thing that could life his heroism up....it is the heights to me.

I will say a prayer for him and his family. I hope his mother knows how thankful we are as a country...how thankful I am as the sister of a Marine, with cousins and friends serving in other branches of the armed forces...how thankful that there are and were people like her son in this world, watching our backs.

God Bless the men and women of our military, and their families.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

If smothering a live grenade with your own body doesnt qualify you for the Medal of Honor, what does?

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

i really can't express in words how i feel about this

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Posted by lipglossjunky73

Posted by DandN

If smothering a live grenade with your own body doesnt qualify you for the Medal of Honor, what does?

I agree.

I think what makes me even sadder, is this youngman came from Tijuana. He wasn't even born in this country, and he died for this country. I am sure he was poor and limited in what he could accomplish because of that, and he chose to serve this country. And he saved so many people.

So sad

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

i don't claim to know anything about military rules or protocol, but i think it is sad he is not receiving the medal of honor

that being said, i am glad he did receive an honor from the navy that seems to be pretty prestigious in its own right.
if the situation is not rectified, i hope the family can still take pride in the award he did get.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

I don't care if he was taking his last breath before he threw himself on the gernade .............He knowingly and deliberately sacraficed his own life unselfishly to save his men . -


AFTER being gunned down by "friendly fire"

How do you NOT give a marine of that caliber a medal of honor ???? I would love to hear the argument against it .........

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

I'm not surprised. It's a travesty.

Re: I usually don't post things like this - but this made me very sad

Posted by CathyB

So sad. Hopefully they will reconsider with all the publicity this is getting. Shame on them.

Did anyone see the video tribute they played for him at the Republican National Convention? I couldn't stop crying. At his funeral every Marine who was in the area came. As they each filed by the casket they hammered their USMC emblem into it with their fists. It was covered in them.