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Posted on 11/24/2004 9:45:32 AM PST by PHANTOM21
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."
You're going to be a great addition to FR. Welcome and keep the posts like this going. Good job.
"Rarely does one find another committing such acts of valor unless that individual has demonstrated over a consistent period of time that he is selfless, obedient, and faithful to the conduct he would expect of his buddies who exhibit an intense dependence upon each other."
I told this Marine's story to my 5th grade Sunday School class. The Bible lesson was on Faithfulness. Semper Fi
Thank God for the heroes who protect our great nation!
I tried to read this to my wife but my voice kept cracking as tears swelled in my eyes. The CMH...without question!
There are many brave men and women who have answered the call to serve our country and then there a select few like Sgt. Peralta whose basic instinct for self survival is suppressed by devotion to his fellow Marines. It would have been an honor to know this brave man. Salute.
Now He has taken Sgt. Peralta to be with his love in Heaven.
A Blessed Thanksgiving to you all.
Sandalwood
Don't you think that's a little inappropriate on this thread? Shame on you, to make such a point in such a way.
Whatever the papers or documents say, this man became a full American the nanosecond he joined the Marines.
Whatever the circumstances of his birth, he became the best of us.
Thank you and Godspeed, Marine.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." -- Jesus
"The Hand Song"
The boy only wanting to give mother something,
And all of her roses had bloomed.
Looking at him as he came rushing in with them,
knowing her roses were doomed.
All she could see were some thorns buried deep,
And tears that he cried as she tended his wounds.
And she knew it was love, it was what she could understand.
He was showing his love and that's how he hurt his hands.
He still remembers that night as a child, on his mothers knee.
She held him close and she opened her Bible, and quietly started to read.
Then seeing a picture of Jesus, he cried out:
"Mama he's got some scars just like me!"
And he knew it was love, it was what he could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.
Now the boy is grown and moved out on his own.
When Uncle Sam comes along.
A foreign affair, but our young men are there.
And luck had his number drawn.
It wasn't that long till our hero was gone, he gave to a friend what he learned from the cross.
But they knew it was love, it one they could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.
Semper Fi!
Just like reading about those national guardsman on Iwo Jima that won the MOH for similar acts, I get chills.
Click the Pic
Does any one know if any Congressional Medal of Honor medals have been awarded for service in Iraq? Also, what is MSM?
The epitomy of a Marine...the finest of the finest...
Father God please grant this Marine a place among your own personal warriors
forgive me; I've posted this on similar threads:
http://www.goforbroke.org/history/history_historical_medal_munemori.asp
The local (West Los Angeles) National Guard Armory has a Sadoa Munemori Hall.
Thanks to google, I know why.
Who says they don't make 'em like they used to.
And so much for those folks who think we need to totally shut off immigration...
Immigration is where we get at least SOME of those Men!
Why is it inappropriate? The article points out that this brave man wasn't even a citizen until he joined the Marines.
sniff sniff - smells like hypocrisy. Good thing the Buchananites didn't get ahold of this guy and deport him before he could become a Marine...
You see, the GOP could lock up the vote of the vast majority of Hispanics if we stop holding illegal immigrants with the same disdain as your garden-variety terrorist. It just so happens that some of them become real, live patriots.
This guy deserves the MOH here, he did what he was supposed to do and that was protect he fellow Marines. God Bless his soul and that of his Family. :-(
WHY ISN'T THIS MAN'S STORY BEING SPLASHED ACROSS THE MSM LIKE THE OTHER FINE YOUNG MARINE'S STORY IN FALLOUJA??????.....
MSM - Meritorious Service Medal?
Disgusting.
R.I.P., the valiant Marine.
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