Posted on 05/30/2010 4:36:59 AM PDT by don-o
“I didn’t know anything about medals,” Peralta told me. But she said that the idea that her son would be remembered as a national hero slowly became a source of comfort to her. The Peralta family, which includes Rafael’s three siblings, moved to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico, when Rafael was a teenager, and he joined the Marines the first moment he could legally do so, on the same morning he got his green card. Though the Peralta parents spoke little English and felt like foreigners in Southern California, Rafael “really loved this country” and loved being a Marine, Peralta told me. As the months after his death wore on, she began to look forward to the day when she would receive the Medal of Honor on his behalf.
But that day never came. Almost four years later, on Sept. 17, 2008, Peralta was summoned to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, where Lieut. Gen. Richard F. Natonski informed her of the Pentagon’s decision: Rafael Peralta would not be awarded the Medal of Honor after all. Instead he would receive the Navy Cross, the second-highest American military decoration that can be awarded to a Marine.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
But, I found this very interesting, informative and erll reported.
well reported
RIP proud warrior. Now the NY Slimes wants to equate every gang banging, dope smuggling, illegal wetback who ever snuck into this country with him. If only we’d let them all in our troubles would be over.....
He was shot in the head by friendly fire. She should proudly accept the navy cross and spend a little time reading what other medal of honor winners did.
May God bless him for his service and her for the sacrifice.
What happened to America?
Did you actually read the article? There’s more there than his getting shot by friendly fire.
Did he take a grenade purposefully or not?
I think a mama's heart should be considered in all things military death.
Keep your mouth shut until a final decidion is made ... cite "an award" if need be.
...I have an off topic question:...this man was ‘green card status’ when he enlisted...so by joining the Marines, does he get full citizenship status?...is military service a fast track to citizenship?...just wondering.
'Twas the hand of God.
Now is the time to read of Milton Olive.
THE MEN OF OLIVE COMPANY; FOUR SOLDIERS SURVIVED VIETNAM BECAUSE MILTON OLIVE DIDN'T
http://www.mishalov.com/Olive.html
It’s a good question. I recall President Bush at a swearing in ceremony that involved military becoming citizens.
A Navy Cross is no small thing.
Indeed. Chesty Puller earned five of them along with an Army Distinguished Service Cross.
I hope Rafael Peralta doesn’t have to wait 147 years to get HIS medal.
“...I have an off topic question:...this man was ‘green card status’ when he enlisted...so by joining the Marines, does he get full citizenship status?...is military service a fast track to citizenship?...just wondering.”
Fast-track, yes, immediate full citizenship, no. Last I checked, it was 5 years, but that was decades ago, and things may have changed.
...thanks Old Student!...I wonder what will happen if more and more foreign nationals join up...where will their loyalties lie?...France used to comtemplate this...that’s why the Foreign Legion was stationed outside France.
As is the DSC. Not everything rises to the level of the MOH. To politicize it like would be possible under the current crop of clowns would be to trivialize it.
He already received it.
Who is politicizing?
Those who imply that the Navy Cross is somehow insufficient an award for Peralta's action. Anytime valorous actions are compared and equal outcomes don't occur, those questioners are politicizing the event. It is true that politics play a part in the awarding of valor medals, but that is the way it is. There is no matrix for assigning valor decorations of this rank.
Sadly, the politicizing continues.
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