Posted on 11/22/2004 8:05:18 PM PST by saquin
FALLUJAH, Iraq — Sgt. Rafael Peralta built a reputation as a man who always put his Marines' interests ahead of his own.
He showed that again, when he made the ultimate sacrifice of his life Tuesday, by shielding his fellow Marines from a grenade blast.
"It's stuff you hear about in boot camp, about World War II and Tarawa Marines who won the Medal of Honor," said Lance Cpl. Rob Rogers, 22, of Tallahassee, Fla., one of Peralta's platoon mates in 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
Peralta, 25, as platoon scout, wasn't even assigned to the assault team that entered the insurgent safe house in northern Fallujah, Marines said. Despite an assignment that would have allowed him to avoid such dangerous duty, he regularly asked squad leaders if he could join their assault teams, they said.
One of the first Marines to enter the house, Peralta was wounded in the face by rifle fire from a room near the entry door, said Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison, 20, of Tacoma, who was in the house when Peralta was first wounded.
Moments later, an insurgent rolled a fragmentation grenade into the area where a wounded Peralta and the other Marines were seeking cover.
As Morrison and another Marine scrambled to escape the blast, pounding against a locked door, Peralta grabbed the grenade and cradled it into his body, Morrison said. While one Marine was badly wounded by shrapnel from the blast, the Marines said they believe more lives would have been lost if not for Peralta's selfless act.
"He saved half my fire team," said Cpl. Brannon Dyer, 27, of Blairsville, Ga.
The Marines said such a sacrifice would be perfectly in character for Peralta, a Mexico native who lived in San Diego and gained U.S. citizenship after joining the Marines.
"He'd stand up for his Marines to an insane point," Rogers said.
Rogers and others remembered Peralta as a squared-away Marine, so meticulous about uniform standards that he sent his camouflage uniform to be pressed while training in Kuwait before entering Iraq.
But mostly they remembered acts of selflessness: offering career advice, giving a buddy a ride home from the bar, teaching salsa dance steps in the barracks.
While Alpha Company was still gathering information, and a formal finding on Peralta's death is likely months away, not a single Marine in Alpha Company doubted the account of Peralta's act of sacrifice.
"I believe it," said Alpha's commander, Capt. Lee Johnson. "He was that kind of Marine."
God Bless Sgt. Peralta. Rest in Peace.
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He has loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish`d rows of steel,
"As ye deal with my contemners, So with you my grace shall deal;"
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
Duty, honor, country. By doing his duty above and beyond, Rafael Peralta exhibited the greatest honor, and now it is his country's turn to honor him.
He will be front and center at my office on my 'Wall of Honor' tomorrow.
Well done, Marine! Rest in the peace you so richly deserve.
Semper fi ... always loyal, every faithful.
Ping.
John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Semper Fidelis
Give him MoH. WOW! What a soldier. Thank you for your sacrifice. :(
Oh my.............. tears.
This Marine is what America is all about...even though he might look different then you.......his blood ran Red, White and Blue..........
He's brings glory to his family and honor to his (new) nation.
America's best.
God Bless this HERO, Sgt. Rafael Peralta! Many prayers for his family!!
Another story indicates that this young hero was an undocumented immigrant. IOW, he died for the country he loved.
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived." -- George S. Patton
Someone put it so simply yet so elegantly: "Where do we get such men?"
Rest with the Lord Marine.
The Marines said such a sacrifice would be perfectly in character for Peralta, a Mexico native who lived in San Diego and gained U.S. citizenship after joining the Marines.
Interesting how those who think we should "seal the borders" are eerily silent right now.
Peralta, may have been born Mexican, but he died a great American. God Bless.
I quess there wasn't a embedded news crew to get a film of that.
If you read no further... read this article:
Marine's death in Fallujah adds to their losses(San Diego Union Tribune.)
It was about the series of tragedies this family has endured. Sgt Peralta's fiance died recently, while burying her own mother a few days after they were to be married.
It was about what kind of man he was - before he was really old enough to be one. About how he waited until he got his Green Card to join the Marines.. his dream.
It was about the letters his family received after he died - and he had never written before, but wrote the night before he was killed protecting his brothers.... he is described as a "family man in the truest sense of the word." We know it to be so.
And it was about the recurring dream that was haunting him: the one where his fiance says she is coming to get him - she is taking him with her.
He knew he would not be coming back from Iraq to his family. And he told them all in letters how proud he was of all of them. A friend said of him: "He said he was ready to die, and had reconciled with God."
He made me proud as well - just reading about his brave selflessness.. before he even went to war.
God Bless this Brave Marine ... and those who still fight in his name and other fallen heroes.
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