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[Yahoo!] Marine praised by Bush won't get Medal of Honor

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by TurtleBonzi, Sep 18, 2008.

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  1. TurtleBonzi

    TurtleBonzi Member

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    By CHELSEA J. CARTER, AP Military Affairs Writer Thu Sep 18, 5:52 AM ET

    SAN DIEGO - A Marine sergeant singled out by President Bush for throwing his body on a grenade to save his comrades in Iraq will receive the prestigious Navy Cross rather than the nation's highest military award, military officials said.

    The family of Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who was posthumously nominated for the nation's highest military honor, told the North County Times of Escondido, Calif., they were disappointed he was not receiving the Medal of Honor.

    "I don't understand why if the president has been talking about him," his mother, Rosa Peralta, told the newspaper, which was the first to report the bestowing of the Navy Cross.

    Rosa Peralta said she was informed during a meeting with Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski that a committee could not agree on awarding the Medal of Honor to her son, who Marine Corps officials say was first wounded by friendly fire. She said the general mentioned the friendly fire aspect as part of her son's death during the discussion.

    Marine Corps spokesman Mike Alvarez confirmed the meeting, saying only that it was a personal briefing between Natonski and Rosa Peralta to inform her that the secretary of the Navy would award the Navy Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism.

    The Navy Cross is the second highest honor for combat heroism a Marine can receive.

    The secretary of the Navy's public affairs office in Washington, D.C., did not immediately return an after-hours telephone call Wednesday seeking comment.

    Headquarters Marine Corps spokesman Maj. David Nevers told The Associated Press that the Navy Cross for Peralta "is not bestowed lightly."

    Nevers said only 23 sailors and Marines out of the thousands who have served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have received the Navy Cross.

    "The awarding of a medals of valor is a methodical process and carefully conducted to ensure the sacrifice and service of our Marines and sailors is appropriately honored," he said.

    Peralta was shot several times in the face and body during a house-to-house search in Fallujah on Nov. 15, 2004, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

    According to a report by a Marine combat photographer who witnessed the act, Peralta lay wounded on the floor of a house and grabbed a grenade that had been lobbed by an insurgent. He absorbed the blast with his body, dying instantly.

    In 2005, Natonski, then-commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, ordered an investigation to determine the source of a bullet fragment recovered from Peralta's body.

    "Following multiple and exhaustive reviews, the evidence supports the finding that Peralta was likely hit by 'friendly fire,'" the Marine Corps said Wednesday in a press release. "This finding had no bearing on the decision to award the Navy Cross medal."

    Bush cited Peralta's heroism in a Memorial Day speech in 2005, saying the Marine "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them."

    Peralta, who was assigned to Hawaii's 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, moved to San Diego from Tijuana as a teenager. He was 25.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/ap_on_re_us/death_by_grenade

    If it's been posted before, feel free to lock it up
     
    #1 TurtleBonzi, Sep 18, 2008
  2. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost be kind. be brave.
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    Well, surely there is some method involved here.
     
    #2 DonnyMost, Sep 18, 2008
  3. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    Holy Handgrenades, he jumped on a hand grenade to save his buddies? Give that man the Medal of Honor, that is about the bravest thing you can do.

    DD
     
    #3 DaDakota, Sep 18, 2008
  4. BigBenito

    BigBenito Member

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    So, he was hit by friendly fire in the face?!? And then he jumped on a grenade?
     
    #4 BigBenito, Sep 18, 2008
  5. Tree-Mac

    Tree-Mac Contributing Member

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    I think maybe he was already half dead from the shots in the face and felt he wasn't going to live anyways, so he jumped on the grenade to at least save his friends. Maybe that act was not as brave as if he were uninjured, saw the granede and jumped right onto it. That could possibly be why he didn't get the highest medal.
     
    #5 Tree-Mac, Sep 18, 2008
  6. BigBenito

    BigBenito Member

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    Injured or not, I think he deserves the highest award possible for jumping on a grenade to save someone else.

    I'm just flabbergasted that he was SHOT IN THE FACE by friendly fire.
     
    #6 BigBenito, Sep 18, 2008
  7. Apollo Creed

    Apollo Creed Contributing Member

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    I think it's even more heroic that he jumped on the grenade and decided to save the dudes who shot his face off.
     
    #7 Apollo Creed, Sep 18, 2008
  8. rimrocker

    rimrocker Contributing Member

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    Past winners...

    http://www.history.army.mil/moh.html

    Here's a sample from just the "A" section of Vietnam...

     
    #8 rimrocker, Sep 18, 2008
  9. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    I checked out wikipedia to attempt to discern the logic.

    Medal of Honor: "...a person who, while a member of the Army [JV: apparently all armed forces], distinguished himself conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States..."

    Navy Cross: "Extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force and going beyond the call of duty."

    So, maybe he was gallant, risked his life, and went beyond the call of duty, but scored too low on intrepidity.

    Though it should be noted:
    (1) For the Medal of Honor, a nomination has to be approved by all levels of military command, or else get an act of Congress. The Navy Cross, probably goes through fewer levels of command, since it is confined to the Navy.

    (2) You get all sorts of freebies with a Medal of Honor -- more money, privileges, etc. Maybe they're trying to control the budget?

    However, according to Wikipedia, on 6/2/08 a Medal of Honor was given to Ross McGinnis for throwing himself on a grenade. On 4/8/08, one was given to Michael Monsoor for throwing himself on a grenade. Their situations don't seem any more complicated than this one. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps they thought this guy's comrades were further from the grenade and in less peril than the other guys who were saved. Or, they noticed a troubling trend of soldiers throwing themselves on grenades to win Medals of Honor and wanted to discourage the practice.
     
    #9 JuanValdez, Sep 18, 2008
  10. Apollo Creed

    Apollo Creed Contributing Member

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    Were these guys going to die anyway as well?

    Maybe it's like when the black dude blows up the bugs near the end of Starship Troopers. He was already all effed up due to those damn bugs anyway that the heroism of taking the grenade and taking out the bugs was kinda dampened.
     
    #10 Apollo Creed, Sep 18, 2008
  11. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    The most recent one was going to -- a grenade was thown into his Humvee. The other guy could have escaped, they make a point to say.
     
    #11 JuanValdez, Sep 18, 2008
  12. bejezuz

    bejezuz Contributing Member

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    The Medal of Honor is a highly reserved medal. Men who receive a Distinguished Cross are no less honorable heroes. When I think Medal of Honor, though, the bar is a bit higher than falling on a grenade. This is who I'm reminded of:

    [​IMG]

    Roy Benavidez, for me, is the standard by which modern Medal of Honor recipients should be measured. You can read his story here. Long story short, Benavidez pulled a dozen wounded soldiers out of a ambush, suffering 37 bullet and bayonet wounds, a broken jaw, and a grenade blast. The guy made Rambo look like a sissy.
     
    #12 bejezuz, Sep 18, 2008
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