thedrifter
10-06-08, 09:00 AM
Last modified Sunday, October 5, 2008 5:07 PM PDT
MILITARY: White House mum on Marine denied Medal of Honor
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
The White House has yet to respond to appeals to reopen the case of a San Diego Marine who, witnesses say, used his body to shield fellow troops from a grenade but was denied a Medal of Honor.
More than two dozen members of Congress, including California's two U.S. senators, asked the Bush administration last month to take a second look at a Defense Department decision denying the medal to the late Sgt. Rafael Peralta.
The Marine Corps announced Sept. 18 that Peralta instead would be posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Nov. 15, 2004.
The Navy Cross is the second-highest award a Marine can earn for valor in combat.
That outraged Marines who were with Peralta and his unit, which was attached to Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Division.
The Marines said they have no doubt his actions were deliberate and saved their lives.
The Marine Corps and the Department of Navy had agreed on the Medal of Honor nomination for Peralta, who emigrated with his family from Tijuana at age 15.
The medal was denied by a special panel appointed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The Defense Department said a medical specialist concluded that Peralta, who had been shot in the head before witnesses say he reached for the grenade, was too incapacitated to have consciously carried out that act.
In the wake of that decision, San Diego's congressional delegation and the state's senators wrote a letter to Bush asking for a review.
Hawaii's congressional delegation and the 21 members of the House of Representatives' Hispanic Caucus subsequently added their names to the cause.
Peralta's unit was based in Hawaii.
The White House press office did not respond to calls seeking comment on the review request.
Joe Kasper, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday that the congressional offices also have not heard anything from the White House.
In a prepared statement, Hunter said he remains convinced Peralta is a "national hero."
"The Navy Cross citation acknowledges he deliberately used his body to shield the grenade blast," Hunter said. "There should be no question about which recognition Sergeant Peralta deserves."
George Sabga, a San Diego attorney who has been working with the Peralta family, said Friday that he believes the decision against the Medal of Honor stems from the conclusion that Peralta died when a bullet fired by a fellow Marine ricocheted and struck him in the head.
"I think it's all because of the friendly fire part of it," Sabga said, adding that the Peralta family has petitioned the Defense Department for every document associated with the decision, including all those generated or examined by the Gates-appointed review panel.
The strong emotions the Peralta decision has generated were in part fueled by Bush having singled him out during a 2005 Memorial Day speech.
The president that day said Peralta "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them."
The controversy was further stoked by the Marine Corps Times in its Sept. 29 edition. The newspaper featured the story on its front page with the large headline "Not Good Enough" and a smaller headline asking "What the hell happened?"
Inside the independently owned paper was a three-page story. The only editorial in that week's edition said Peralta had earned the Medal of Honor.
The editorial also castigated Gates, who it said had tried to "read the mind of a Marine who died defending freedom" and "reduced the prestigious Navy Cross to a mere consolation prize."
Peralta is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
MILITARY: White House mum on Marine denied Medal of Honor
By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
The White House has yet to respond to appeals to reopen the case of a San Diego Marine who, witnesses say, used his body to shield fellow troops from a grenade but was denied a Medal of Honor.
More than two dozen members of Congress, including California's two U.S. senators, asked the Bush administration last month to take a second look at a Defense Department decision denying the medal to the late Sgt. Rafael Peralta.
The Marine Corps announced Sept. 18 that Peralta instead would be posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in the Iraqi city of Fallujah on Nov. 15, 2004.
The Navy Cross is the second-highest award a Marine can earn for valor in combat.
That outraged Marines who were with Peralta and his unit, which was attached to Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Division.
The Marines said they have no doubt his actions were deliberate and saved their lives.
The Marine Corps and the Department of Navy had agreed on the Medal of Honor nomination for Peralta, who emigrated with his family from Tijuana at age 15.
The medal was denied by a special panel appointed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The Defense Department said a medical specialist concluded that Peralta, who had been shot in the head before witnesses say he reached for the grenade, was too incapacitated to have consciously carried out that act.
In the wake of that decision, San Diego's congressional delegation and the state's senators wrote a letter to Bush asking for a review.
Hawaii's congressional delegation and the 21 members of the House of Representatives' Hispanic Caucus subsequently added their names to the cause.
Peralta's unit was based in Hawaii.
The White House press office did not respond to calls seeking comment on the review request.
Joe Kasper, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday that the congressional offices also have not heard anything from the White House.
In a prepared statement, Hunter said he remains convinced Peralta is a "national hero."
"The Navy Cross citation acknowledges he deliberately used his body to shield the grenade blast," Hunter said. "There should be no question about which recognition Sergeant Peralta deserves."
George Sabga, a San Diego attorney who has been working with the Peralta family, said Friday that he believes the decision against the Medal of Honor stems from the conclusion that Peralta died when a bullet fired by a fellow Marine ricocheted and struck him in the head.
"I think it's all because of the friendly fire part of it," Sabga said, adding that the Peralta family has petitioned the Defense Department for every document associated with the decision, including all those generated or examined by the Gates-appointed review panel.
The strong emotions the Peralta decision has generated were in part fueled by Bush having singled him out during a 2005 Memorial Day speech.
The president that day said Peralta "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them."
The controversy was further stoked by the Marine Corps Times in its Sept. 29 edition. The newspaper featured the story on its front page with the large headline "Not Good Enough" and a smaller headline asking "What the hell happened?"
Inside the independently owned paper was a three-page story. The only editorial in that week's edition said Peralta had earned the Medal of Honor.
The editorial also castigated Gates, who it said had tried to "read the mind of a Marine who died defending freedom" and "reduced the prestigious Navy Cross to a mere consolation prize."
Peralta is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in Point Loma.
Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie