Marine does his job to the end!!!!

recondoc1

recondoc1

Joined
Apr 27, 2001
Messages
595
Human Events Online
> Dec 17, 2004
> HERO IN FALLUJAH: Marine Laid Himself on Top of Grenade to Save Rest
> of Squad by Oliver North "It's stuff you hear about in boot camp,
> about World War II and Tarawa Marines who won the Medal of Honor,"
> Lance Corporal Rob Rogers of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment
> told the Army Times. Corporal Rogers was describing the actions of his
> fellow Marine, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, a Mexican immigrant who enlisted
> in the Marine Corps the day he received his green card.
>
> Most readers of this column probably haven't heard about Rafael Peralta.
> With the exception of the Los Angeles Times, most of our mainstream
> media haven't bothered to write about him. The next time you log onto
> the Internet, do a Google search on Rafael Peralta. As of this
> writing, the Internet's most used search engine will provide you with
> only 26 citations from news sources that have bothered to write about this heroic young man.
> Then, just for giggles, do a Google search on Pablo Paredes. Hundreds
> of media outlets have written about him. The wire services have
> blasted his story to thousands of newspapers. Television and radio
> debate programs gladly provide the public with talking heads that can
> speak eloquently on the actions of Pablo Paredes.
>
> You see, Pablo Paredes, a Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class, did something
> the liberal elites consider "heroic" and the media consider
> "newsworthy" - he defied an order. Last week, Paredes refused to board
> his ship bound for Iraq along with 5,000 other sailors and Marines. He
> showed up on the pier wearing a black tee shirt that read, ``Like a
> Cabinet member, I resign.''
>
> We know this because Petty Officer Pablo Paredes had the courtesy and
> forethought to notify the local media that he would commit an act of
> cowardice the following day. Perhaps he hoped to follow the lead of
> another famous war protestor who went on to become a U.S. Senator and
> his party's presidential nominee by throwing away his military medals.
> Petty Officer Paredes stopped short of trashing his military I.D. in
> front of the cameras because he said he didn't want to be charged with
> the destruction of government property. The media, we are promised,
> will continue to follow this story intently.
>
> It is a shame that the media focus on such acts when they could tell
> stories about real heroes like Rafael Peralta who "saved the life of
> my son and every Marine in that room," according to Garry Morrison the
> father of a Marine in Peralta's unit - Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison.
>
> On the morning of November 15, 2004, the men of 1st Battalion, 3rd
> Marines awoke before sunrise and continued what they had been doing
> for seven days previously - cleansing the city of Fallujah of terrorists house by house.
>
> At the fourth house they encountered that morning the Marines kicked
> in the door and "cleared" the front rooms, but then noticed a locked
> door off to the side that required inspection. Sgt. Rafael Peralta
> threw open the closed door, but behind it were three terrorists with
> AK-47s. Peralta was hit in the head and chest with multiple shots at
> close range.
>
> Peralta's fellow Marines had to step over his body to continue the
> shootout with the terrorists. As the firefight raged on, a "yellow,
> foreign-made, oval-shaped grenade," as Lance Corporal Travis Kaemmerer
> described it, rolled into the room where they were all standing and
> came to a stop near Peralta's body.
>
> But Sgt. Rafael Peralta wasn't dead - yet. This young immigrant of 25
> years, who enlisted in the Marines when he received his green card,
> who volunteered for the front line duty in Fallujah, had one last act
> of heroism in him.
>
> Sgt. Rafael Peralta was the polar opposite of Pablo Paredes, the Petty
> Officer who turned his back on his shipmates and mocked his commander
> in chief. Peralta was proud to serve his adopted country. In his
> parent's home, on his bedroom walls hung only three items - a copy of
> the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and his boot camp
> graduation certificate.
> Before he set out for Fallujah, he wrote to his 14-year old brother,
> "be proud of me, bro...and be proud of being an American."
>
> Not only can Rafael's family be proud of him, but his fellow Marines
> are alive because of him. As Sgt. Rafael Peralta lay near death on the
> floor of a Fallujah terrorist hideout, he spotted the yellow grenade
> that had rolled next to his near-lifeless body. Once detonated, it
> would take out the rest of Peralta's squad. To save his fellow
> Marines, Peralta reached out, grabbed the grenade, and tucked it under
> his abdomen where it exploded.
>
> "Most of the Marines in the house were in the immediate area of the
> grenade," Cpl. Kaemmerer said. "We will never forget the second chance
> at life that Sgt. Peralta gave us."
>
> Unfortunately, unlike Pablo Paredes, Sgt. Rafael Peralta will get
> little media coverage. He is unlikely to have books written about him
> or movies made about his extraordinarily selfless sacrifice. But he is
> likely to receive the Medal of Honor. And that Medal of Honor is
> likely to be displayed next to the only items that hung on his bedroom
> wall - the Constitution, Bill of Rights and his Boot Camp graduation certificate.
>
> Yes, Virginia, there are still heroes in America, and Sgt. Rafael
> Peralta was one of them. It's just too bad the media can't recognize them.
 
zzperalta_rafael2.JPG


Marine, Hero, American.

Rest In Peace Sgt. Rafael Peralta.
 
That happened almost a month ago, and this is the first I'm hearing of it. I have heard the story of Paredes being mentioned in public and in the media many times. That proves to me that the objective of the media is to focus on the negative at the expense of integrity (of which nothing can be seen in the news) and at the expense of honoring someone who made such a sacrifice. It's really a shame that the media would rather instigate than to actually investigate. :mad:
 
I cant say I have ever heard of anything as heroic as that. On deaths door and still looking out for your buddies. I salute you Sergeant, you are a true Hero.
 
Sgt. Rafael Peralta , Semper Fi.

Never met the Devil dog. I been attached with or trained with all 3 Battalions 1/3,2/3,3/3. They are some outstanding Marines to serve with. Yes we will tell their story also to new Marines and recruits.

Good speed and Stay Safe to all serving at home and abroad.Never Forget!

3rd Marines..LAVA DOGS!!!
S/F,
CEYA!
Ceya Knife Designz
 
The story appeared today in Oliver North's column in The Tulsa Daily World in Tulsa Oklahoma.
Perhaps the good Sergeant will get the credit due him now, we can only hope.
 
Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

It's times like this when Christmas is almost upon us, we remember that Good will forever prevail over Evil. So it is written.
 
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for whoever has shed his blood with me shall be my brother. And those men afraid to go will think themselves lesser men as they hear of how we fought and died together.

Semper Fi.
 
Man, i think I'm gonna cry for Christ sake! I am not ashamed to admit that I haven't got half the bravery of this young man. He did something that he knew would no doubt end his life, so that others could have the chance to live. This is the most couragous thing anybody can ever do, period. Literally giving your life with no chance of survival, at a moments notice with no time to thinkit over, for the people next to you to live, is unspeakably brave, I literally cannot believe it. It is a shame that such a good man is the one to die, and cowards like me are at home living life. There is nothing I'll ever do in my entire life that will ever even begin to compare to that.
 
I don't care where he was born. He was an American we should all look upon with respect, honor and a desire to live as sacrificially as he did. God bless him.
 
These days, the word "hero" has been cheapened almost beyond redemption. Seems like every damn fool who stubs his/her toe and still comes to work is a "hero".

This Marine's picture and story ought to be in the dictionary under the word--
so people will know what "hero" really means.
 
shaldag said:
These days, the word "hero" has been cheapened almost beyond redemption. Seems like every damn fool who stubs his/her toe and still comes to work is a "hero".

This Marine's picture and story ought to be in the dictionary under the word--
so people will know what "hero" really means.
Click to expand...

I may be missing some stuff but I haven't heard any stories like this coming from the mainstream media. They're ignoring heroes like this, and then they focus on all the actors and folks like that who preach "no war for oil," while wasting away in their Hummers and private jets. It's time the media gets their priorities straight and pays attentioin to real heroes.
 
I am sad for the loss that his family is suffering, but they must be damned proud of him. I know that I am. I have met only one Medal of Honor winner of which I know, and that was at the VietNam Memorial, the "Wall". He had won his MOH for doing exactly what Sergeant Peralta did, except that he lived to tell about it, and to suffer the pain of removing innumerable pieces of shrapnel from his torso. But he saved the lives of his buddies. I would hope, and expect, that Sergeant Peralta is nominated for that award, he certainly seems to deserve it.

Thank you, Col. North, for telling us about this.
 
What an incredible act of bravery. The CMH seems to be THE appropriate acknowledgement of the heroism and self sacrifice of this great American.

The History Channel ran a facinating series on CMH recipients and their stories. The acts of bravery they recounted were simply astonishing. Sgt. Peralta's actions certainly seem to compare to those attributed to winners of the medal.
 
There was another young marine who did the same thing some time back, forgive me for not remembering the name, and all details, but basically it was an ironic twist of fate , because two weeks prior to the event , he and a squad leader, or his plt sgt were discussing whether or not they would jump on a grenade to save other marines. In the end , he was at a vehicle checkpoint, there was an incident with a vehicle, and a grenade was tossed, he jumped on it, but didnt die right away, poor kid died a few days later. God bless em all. I will repost with specifics if I can find the info again. Thank you to all of our young men and women serving, My prayers are with you.
 
Heres the story.


By ANTHONY CARDINALE
News Staff Reporter
BuffaloNews.com
4/26/2004

Cpl. Jason Dunham of Allegany County jumped in front of a hand grenade to save the lives of two fellow Marines in Iraq on April 14.

Dunham, 22, of Scio, died Thursday in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. His death brought to eight the number of Western New York servicemen to die since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Two other Marines were wounded but are recovering.

"All I can say is, this ain't nothing that I wouldn't expect of my son, because that's the kind of person he was," his father, Daniel Dunham, an Air Force veteran, said Sunday. Dunham read from documents received from the military about the circumstances surrounding his son's fatal injuries in Karbala, about 60 miles southwest of Baghdad.

"Preliminary reports are that an Iraqi hostile (fighter) departed a stopped vehicle with a hand grenade. When he deployed the hand grenade, Cpl. Dunham put himself between the grenade and his fellow Marines. The two Marines who witnessed the event were also medevaced, so the battalion is still gaining details."

Dunham began his second deployment in Iraq in September after extending his enlistment to serve as a squad leader with another Marine unit. He enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Scio Central School in June 2000. He was scheduled to complete his service in July.

"Jason's been my hero since the day he was born," his father said. "All my kids are. They never had to do anything to prove that to me."

The funeral will be scheduled later this week after the body arrives home.

Survivors, in addition to his parents, include two brothers, Justin, 21, of Butler, Pa., and Kyle, 15; a sister, Katie, 11; and his grandparents, Patricia Layton of Amity, Murray and Linda Dunham of Arkport, Gerald and Roberta Kinkead of Ridgeway, Pa., and Bernie and Sandy Jackson of Wellsville.
 
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