Lawmakers urge Medal of Honor for San Diego Marine

Lawmakers urge Medal of Honor for San Diego Marine
Fellow Marines say that as Sgt. Rafael Peralta lay dying in Iraq in 2004, he pulled an enemy grenade under his body, saving their lives. A pathologist disagreed, but new evidence has emerged.

By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
March 5, 2012

Reporting from San Diego— A bipartisan group of California legislators has asked the secretary of the Navy to reconsider a request from the Marine Corps that the Medal of Honor be awarded posthumously to a Marine from San Diego killed in Iraq.

The group says newly discovered video and a report from a noted pathologist merit a review of the decision by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates not to recommend that the Medal of Honor be awarded to Sgt. Rafael Peralta.

Peralta, 25, an immigrant from Mexico, was killed in November 2004 while Marines were clearing insurgents from barricaded homes in Fallouja.

Marines who were with Peralta said that as he lay dying from a gunshot wound to the head, he reached out and pulled an enemy grenade beneath his body to shield his fellow Marines, saving their lives.
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Video of Sgt. Rafael Peralta pulling grenade under his body being reviewed for Medal of Honor