![\"rafaelperalta\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/rafaelperalta-300x189.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nIn 2004, Sergeant Rafael Peralta shielded his mates from a grenade blast with his own body. The Navy tried to award posthumously his family a Navy Cross for his actions that day, but his mother refused the honor because she thought that her son deserved the Medal of Honor, the only award higher than the Navy Cross in the Navy. We’ve discussed the controversy<\/a> here several times as recently as February, we were quoted in the Washington Post<\/a>. <\/p>\n Although witnesses swear that Peralta made a conscious decision to save his fellow Marines with his own shattered body, forensic professionals claim that it wasn’t possible. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that he was ready to award the medal to Peralta, but the science stood in the way. You know, the same old pogues vs. witnesses argument.<\/p>\n Well today, Peralta’s mother finally accepted the Navy Cross for her son at Camp Pendleton. According to the Associated Press<\/a>, the citation reads;<\/p>\n While attempting to maneuver out of the line of fire, Sgt. Peralta was shot and fell mortally wounded. After the initial exchange of gunfire, the insurgents broke contact, throwing a fragmentation grenade as they fled the building. The grenade came to rest near Sgt. Peralta’s head. Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, Sgt. Peralta reached out and pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The award is for the same thing that the forensic boobs said the Marine sergeant couldn’t have done. And there’s always the USS Rafael Peralta<\/a> coming down the chute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"