fontman
11-19-08, 07:38 PM
SecDef Gates rejects request to upgrade Peralta's valor award
By Steve Liewer
San Diego Union Tribune
November 19, 2008
SAN DIEGO — Defense Secretary Robert Gates has rejected a request by several members of Congress to upgrade the valor award for Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, the late Iraq war hero from San Diego.
The legislators had appealed to President Bush for intervention after the military denied Peralta the top award for combat bravery in September. Peralta received a posthumous Navy Cross, which is second to the Medal of Honor.
Gates announced his decision to not conduct further reviews in a letter dated Tuesday.
Peralta, a Marine, died Nov. 15, 2004 during house-to-house combat in Fallujah, Iraq. After being wounded by a friendly-fire bullet in the back of his head, he grabbed an enemy grenade that landed next to him and pulled it to his chest, according to members of his team who were there.
Peralta's act is credited with saving the lives of six Marines. His superiors in the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment nominated him for the Medal of Honor. The nomination won approval from the Marine Corps, U.S. Central Command and the Secretary of the Navy.
But Gates noted conflicting forensic evidence that raised the possibility that Peralta may have acted unconsciously in smothering the grenade. He made the unprecedented decision to ask five experts -- a former Army commanding general in Iraq, a Medal of Honor recipient, a neurosurgeon and two pathologists -- to analyze the evidence. They unanimously, and independently, recommended against the Medal of Honor, Gates said.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter then awarded Peralta the Navy Cross.
The decision outraged many Marines and Peralta's family members, who have said they may reject the award. California's two senators, its five House members from the San Diego area and other legislators wrote a letter to Bush asking him to reconsider the military's decision.
In his Tuesday letter, Gates said: “The five independent reviewers each individually concluded that the evidence did not meet the exacting 'no doubt'standard necessary to support award of the (Medal of Honor). After careful consideration, I concurred with this conclusion. Further, given the reviews already conducted, I do not believe further review is necessary.”
The decision wasn't surprising given Gates' previously stated position, said George Sabga, a lawyer, former Marine and close friend of the Peralta family.
Sabga said he is working with other Marines in Peralta's unit to gather video footage taken during the house battle in which Peralta died. He believes the film will bolster arguments for awarding the Medal of Honor.
“To me, the video is just critical,” Sabga said. “I personally feel this is going to be overturned, because there really is no doubt.”
Time for a new SecDef, eh?
By Steve Liewer
San Diego Union Tribune
November 19, 2008
SAN DIEGO — Defense Secretary Robert Gates has rejected a request by several members of Congress to upgrade the valor award for Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, the late Iraq war hero from San Diego.
The legislators had appealed to President Bush for intervention after the military denied Peralta the top award for combat bravery in September. Peralta received a posthumous Navy Cross, which is second to the Medal of Honor.
Gates announced his decision to not conduct further reviews in a letter dated Tuesday.
Peralta, a Marine, died Nov. 15, 2004 during house-to-house combat in Fallujah, Iraq. After being wounded by a friendly-fire bullet in the back of his head, he grabbed an enemy grenade that landed next to him and pulled it to his chest, according to members of his team who were there.
Peralta's act is credited with saving the lives of six Marines. His superiors in the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment nominated him for the Medal of Honor. The nomination won approval from the Marine Corps, U.S. Central Command and the Secretary of the Navy.
But Gates noted conflicting forensic evidence that raised the possibility that Peralta may have acted unconsciously in smothering the grenade. He made the unprecedented decision to ask five experts -- a former Army commanding general in Iraq, a Medal of Honor recipient, a neurosurgeon and two pathologists -- to analyze the evidence. They unanimously, and independently, recommended against the Medal of Honor, Gates said.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter then awarded Peralta the Navy Cross.
The decision outraged many Marines and Peralta's family members, who have said they may reject the award. California's two senators, its five House members from the San Diego area and other legislators wrote a letter to Bush asking him to reconsider the military's decision.
In his Tuesday letter, Gates said: “The five independent reviewers each individually concluded that the evidence did not meet the exacting 'no doubt'standard necessary to support award of the (Medal of Honor). After careful consideration, I concurred with this conclusion. Further, given the reviews already conducted, I do not believe further review is necessary.”
The decision wasn't surprising given Gates' previously stated position, said George Sabga, a lawyer, former Marine and close friend of the Peralta family.
Sabga said he is working with other Marines in Peralta's unit to gather video footage taken during the house battle in which Peralta died. He believes the film will bolster arguments for awarding the Medal of Honor.
“To me, the video is just critical,” Sabga said. “I personally feel this is going to be overturned, because there really is no doubt.”
Time for a new SecDef, eh?