Rosa Peralta, mother of Navy Cross recipient Sgt. Rafael Peralta, holds the photo of the new Navy ship named after her son after a ceremony aboard Naval Base San Diego on Sept. 20, 2013. The House Armed Services Committee’s draft of the National Defense Authorization Act waives statutory time limits for awarding the Medal of Honor to Peralta and authorizes the president to present the award to him for acts of valor. (Anna Albrecht/U.S. Marine Corps)
Lawmakers are renewing a push to award the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Rafael Peralta, a Marine who was killed in combat in the Iraq War and was repeatedly denied the nation’s highest military honor by the Pentagon.
The House Armed Services Committee’s draft of the National Defense Authorization Act, released Tuesday, waives statutory time limits for awarding the medal to Peralta and authorizes the president to present the award to him for acts of valor.
The provision comes after multiple failed attempts to approve the Medal of Honor for Peralta, who eyewitnesses said pulled a grenade under his body to shield nearby Marines after being shot in the head during a house-clearing operation.
The Marine Corps and the Department of the Navy recommended Peralta for the medal, but three defense secretaries have denied it, citing medical and forensic reviews showing Peralta could not have consciously covered the grenade due to his injuries.
Efforts to award the medal were further complicated in 2014 when three Marines in Peralta’s unit told The Washington Post that the story of Peralta’s heroism was concocted and said the grenade had exploded near, not underneath, Peralta.
Sgt. Rafael Peralta who was killed in combat in the Iraq War. (U.S. Marine Corps)
Other Marines have disputed that account, saying they saw Peralta pull the grenade to his body in his dying moments, saving several lives in the bloody second battle of Fallujah in 2004.
The Navy posthumously named a destroyer after Peralta, a native of Mexico who illegally immigrated to the U.S. and joined the Marines the day his green card arrived in the mail.
He was awarded the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest decoration for valor. The award citation stated that Peralta had grabbed the grenade “without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own personal safety.”
Peralta’s mother initially refused to accept the Navy Cross, believing he deserved the Medal of Honor.
Chuck Hagel was the third successive defense secretary to turn down the award for Peralta in 2014, agreeing with his predecessors that the case did not meet the “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” standard required for the medal.
A bipartisan bill introduced in the House this month revived the issue, arguing that Peralta’s actions reflected “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” and merited the award.
Republican Darrell Issa of California, who introduced the measure, said Peralta embodied “the highest ideals of indomitable courage and steadfast devotion” and Congress needed to propel his case forward.
“Valor never expires, and Congress has a solemn obligation to ensure that acts of valor of this magnitude receive the recognition they deserve — regardless of administrative delay or statutory limitations,” he said in a statement.
Issa was at the forefront of a recent successful congressional effort to recognize Capt. Royce Williams, a Navy pilot who shot down four Soviet fighter jets during the Korean War, with the Medal of Honor.
A provision to make Williams eligible for the medal was included in last year’s defense authorization bill, and he was presented the award during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in February.
