Gates rejects request to upgrade Peralta's valor award
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 2:10 am
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Gates rejects request to upgrade Peralta's valor award
By Steve Liewer
12:34 p.m. 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 secretary of the Navy.
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