For more than seven years the Pentagon has steadfastly refused to award the Medal of Honor to Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta. Similarly, for almost as many years, U.S. Representatives from California, especially U.S. Congressmen Bob Filner, Duncan L. Hunter and Duncan D. Hunter have been steadfastly fighting to see that justice is done.
For a full background on the struggle to have the Medal of Honor rightly awarded to Peralta, please read here.
In a powerful, detailed and facts-supported March 6, 2012, article in the Washington Times, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, who is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the first Marine combat veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars elected to Congress, joined other California elected officials in pleading for “Giving honor where honor is overdue” in the case of Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta.
In his article, Hunter presents new “information previously unavailable to investigators that invalidates Mr. Gates‘conclusion, clearing the way for Sgt. Peralta finally to get the award he should have received years ago.”
According to Rep. Hunter:
The first piece of evidence is a new report from renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Vincent Di Maio, who reviewed materials in regard to Sgt. Peralta’s death, including witness statements, the condition of the body armor, autopsy findings and his own experience with head wounds. His determination: Sgt. Peralta “was not immediately incapacitated by the brain injury and in fact reached for the grenade and pulled it under his body.”
The second piece of evidence is a video taken by a combat film crew. The video shows Marines attending to Sgt. Peralta after the grenade detonated. He is face-down, with injury to the lower abdomen. The Gates panel claimed there was no evidence that the grenade detonated underneath him, but rather asserted the grenade exploded one to three feet from his left knee. The video shows no sign of injury to his left leg or knee. His trousers are intact, and no blood is visible on the back or left side of the leg.
Between the video and the pathology report, it is evident just how wrong the Gates panel was in reaching its decision. The burden for correcting this mistake should not fall to the Marine Corps or the Navy, but rather the secretary of defense, who is in a position to address this situation once and for all.
Today, Friday, May 18, a defense spending bill amendment proposed by Rep. Duncan D. Hunter “that makes the Navy provide a complete report on Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s posthumous Medal of Honor nomination, including a description of all evidence, findings and actions in the case, passed the House by voice vote” according to the San Diego Union-Tribune
U-T San Diego:
If the Board of Decorations and Medals recommends reopening Peralta’s nomination for the Medal of Honor, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus will likely forward the case to the Defense Department for consideration.
In Hunter’s prepared remarks supporting the amendment, he commended the Navy for naming a destroyer ship after Peralta recently and evaluating “new evidence” supporting the fallen Marine’s Medal of Honor nomination.
Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Hunter, said they expected to have an answer by now about the evidence but “as long as the Navy continues looking at this, that’s progress. The hope is that the Navy is going to come to a decision soon.”
The amendment offered this week to the House version of the defense spending bill requires the Navy to submit the report within 30 days after enactment. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2013 will likely be signed into law in the autumn.
Thank you, Representatives Hunter
Edited to more clearly point out the roles of Rep. Duncan L. Hunter and Duncan D. Hunter and to thank both father and son for their roles in the Peralta case.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.