New details could reopen Peralta valor case - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

New details could reopen Peralta valor case

The controversial valor case of fallen Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta should be re-examined in the wake of new forensic research, according to Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif., who has doggedly advocated for more equitable recognition of combat valor.

Peralta posthumously received the Navy Cross after being denied the Medal of Honor when his actions in his final moments of life were called into question.

The study by a renowned forensic pathologist was made public Thursday by Hunter, a veteran of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan

Hunter sent the report to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus with a letter signed by members of the San Diego congressional delegation and California’s two senators, formally requesting that Peralta’s case be resubmitted for the Medal of Honor based on the new evidence.

The infantryman, who was born and raised in San Diego, died Nov. 15, 2004, in a house-clearing mission during the U.S.-led offensive in Fallujah, Iraq. According to several witnesses, Peralta, who was already wounded and on the ground, scooped a live grenade under his body with his arm and absorbed the blast, saving the lives of his fellow Marines.

The Marine Corps recommended Peralta for the Medal of Honor based on medical evidence, eyewitness accounts and its own investigation, but the award was downgraded to Navy Cross after former Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered a review of the circumstances.

Gates’ panel could not verify that Peralta made a conscious decision to smother the grenade because of the mortal gunshot wound he already had sustained. The Corps later awarded him the Navy Cross. His family refused it.

Forensic pathologist and author Vincent Di Maio says that Peralta’s head wound would not have necessarily kept him from being cognizant enough to pull the grenade toward his body.

“The burden should not be on the Navy or Marine Corps to prove that Sergeant Peralta did what the evidence and witness accounts say he did,” Hunter said in a statement released Thursday.

In the letter to Mabus, the members of Congress say, “We urge you to take appropriate action and recommend Sergeant Peralta for the Medal of Honor relying on the justification presented by the Navy Cross citation, the initial judgment by the Marine Corps and the accounts of the Marines that were present.”

The letter follows the Defense Department’s recent announcement that a new Navy destroyer will bear Peralta’s name.

Hunter also writes that there is “previously unavailable video content” that adds to his argument. He was referring to an unaired segment of a History Channel documentary on Peralta. It has been seen by only a select few, according to Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper, who said the content is graphic and directly contradicts the findings of Gates’ review panel.

The video, Kasper said, is in the hands of Peralta family attorney George Sagba.