EDITORIAL: Honoring a Marine hero (Sgt. Rafael Peralta)

The Washington Times ^ | March 22, 2012 | Editroial

[jazusamo]

Review board should approve Medal of Honor for Sgt. Peralta

U.S. Marine CorpsSgt. Rafael Peralta was a hero who was denied full recognition for his acts of valor. This injustice should be reversed.

Sgt. Peralta was in the thick of the fight during the bloody Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004. While clearing a house, his unit came under close-quarters fire from insurgents, and Sgt. Peralta was felled by a round to the back of his head. While he was lying wounded, a grenade thrown by fleeing insurgents landed near him. “Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own personal safety,” an official account reads, “Sgt. Peralta reached out and pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away.” The grenade blast ended the Marine’s life.

For his self-sacrifice, Sgt. Peralta was recommended for the Medal of Honor. Seven eyewitnesses attested to the events, though just two were required. The Marine Corps chain of command signed off on the award, and then-Secretary of the NavyDonald C. Winter approved the nomination. But when it arrived on the desk of then-Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, the process stalled. For reasons never fully explained, Mr. Gates convened an unprecedented review board to go back over the facts. The board determined that Sgt. Peralta’s initial wound was so severe that he could not have knowingly pulled the grenade under him and that the grenade in fact detonated near his left knee. This finding, coming years later, contradicted eyewitness accounts and was at odds with physical evidence. With the Medal of Honor blocked, Sgt. Peralta was awarded the Navy Cross - yet the award citation recited the facts as originally described.

[jazusamo]

Ping!

[Gene Eric]

Thanks for the ping. I remember this story well.

>> Article: But when it arrived on the desk of then-Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, the process stalled.

Probably due to the difficulty of working out a photo-op for Obama.

[Girlene]

What a story, jaz. Hopefully Sgt Peralta’s ultimate sacrifice will be honored for what it was: a sacrifice, not an accident.

Thanks for posting this.

[jazusamo]

Sgt. Peralta was denied the MOH shortly before Obama was elected but the President has no input as to the award, he only presents it, in most cases.

The refusal of the MOH for Sgt. Peralta seemed suspect from the beginning. Others have been recipients for the identical act but it seems some person decided Sgt. Peralta was unaware of what he was doing in spite of the eye witness accounts. I find that unbelievable but at least this article points that out and hopefully the decision will be reversed.

[jazusamo]

Amen, Girl. He deserves this award, IMO.

[A.A. Cunningham]

"It was approved by the Department of the Navy and the Marine Corps and Central Command," Sabga said of the nomination for the Medal of Honor. "The only ones that had a problem with it was the Department of Defense and I think that was because he was shot by another Marine."

[Lancey Howard]

Thanks for the ping!

[Gene Eric]

Pardon my facetiousness. It sometimes difficult to disassociate Gates and Obama.

Post #7 looks interesting.

[jazusamo]

Thanks for linking that, A.A.

No pardons necessary, Gene. It was awhile back and I was only pointing out the facts as I remembered them.

[smoothsailing]

Seven eyewitnesses attested to the events, though just two were required.

Thanks for the ping, Jaz.

Hopefully DOD gets it right this time.

[jazusamo]

Hopefully DOD gets it right this time.

Amen, Smooth. I doubt there'll be another time.

[Utilizer]

Thanks much for this posting, Jaz luv. I firmly believe all acts of heroism such as this Marine exhibited should be praised at every opportunity. Seven eyewitnesses? Give ‘m the bloody medal, you sorry sodding gits! (to those *cough**Gates**cough* who denied him what is due)

[af_vet_rr]

Probably due to the difficulty of working out a photo-op for Obama.

Obama hadn't even been elected yet. Bush was still running the show. Which makes Gates' actions all the more bizarre.

Duncan Hunter asked the Bush administration at least twice that I know of to review the decision.

It's not surprising. From 2001 - 2008, there were only 5 Medals of Honor handed out. The Air Force Times criticized the current process saying that " a review process that has become so rigorous — and, some say, meddlesome — that no living person can be good enough to pass all the tests.".

[Gene Eric]

Definitely made a gratuitous jab at the One without timeline certainty. But thanks for the correction. Unfortunately, Dubya fell down a few important issues.

Every time Duncan Hunter comes up, I’m reminded of pissant. Too bad he had PDS.

[Gene Eric]

down on a few important issues.

[crusadersoldier]

They did it again ... can’t believe this
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/12/panetta-denies-medal-honor-marine-dived-grenade/

[jazusamo]

I can’t believe it either.

I saw the piece earlier today and what a lame excuse for Panetta to deny it, he won’t overturn Gates’ decision.

Thanks for the ping.