MOH Denied
Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s mother is mulling an appeal to Congress after the Pentagon, following an apparently intensive medical review, denied her son the Medal of Honor and awarded the Navy Cross for shielding his fellow Marines from a grenade blast with his body.
Peralta was killed in house-to-house fighting in the second battle of Falluja in November 2004. The original nomination, based on witness accounts, an autosy and forensic evidence, stated “a conscious, heroic decision to cover the grenade and minimize the effects he knew it would have on the rest of his Marine team.”
A review of evidence, including additional medical reports reviewed by a panel including a former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, a Medal of Honor recipient, a retired military neurosurgeon and two forensic pathologists, found his friendly-fire gunshot wound to the head left his actions below the MOH level. An undoubtedly difficult decision and a harsh, tragic ruling. Standards are standards, though I don’t doubt the argument can be made that standards have varied over time and from case to case. As far as I’m concerned, you could give one to everyone who went into the house. via Boston Herald.
So far three Medals of Honor have been awarded to men who threw themselves on grenades in Iraq. It is usually seen as an unambiguous act of selfless sacrifice. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Mike Mansoor, USMC Cpl. Jason Dunham, and Army Spec. Ross McGinnis. Here’s Royal Marine Lance Cpl. Matt Croucher, up for the Victoria Cross for doing the same thing in Afghanistan. His backpack took the blast and he came out virutally unscathed.
Castle Argghhh!!!: keep the standard high. John makes some points. My “everyone who went in” comment notwithstanding, I wouldn’t want to see it lowered. Details lacking, but I suspect the review panel agonized and arrived at its conclusion reluctantly.
Topics: Iraq, courage, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:57 am on Friday, September 19, 2008
One Response to “MOH Denied”
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September 21st, 2008 at 3:57 am
No one is ever “denied” the MoH; some few rise to the level of being honored with the MoH. Challenging the decision is crass and diminishes both those who are honored with the MoH and those who are honored with the Navy Cross or other medal for gallentry. Once this sort of thing starts, we will soon be awarding Decorations “on a curve”.