Unsung Heroes

After being a part of Project 2,996, I decided that I wanted to honor our military heroes as well. Most people probably know more about the cast of “Lost” then they do about the men and women who have so heroically placed themselves in harms way for our freedom and security, some of whom paid the ultimate price. I just wanted to do what I could to tell their stories as well.

First I will introduce you to Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta and his incredible story:

FALLUJAH, Iraq — Sgt. Rafael Peralta built a reputation as a man who always put his Marines’ interests ahead of his own.

He showed that again, when he made the ultimate sacrifice of his life Tuesday, by shielding his fellow Marines from a grenade blast.

“It’s stuff you hear about in boot camp, about World War II and Tarawa Marines who won the Medal of Honor,” said Lance Cpl. Rob Rogers, 22, of Tallahassee, Fla., one of Peralta’s platoon mates in 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

Peralta, 25, as platoon scout, wasn’t even assigned to the assault team that entered the insurgent safe house in northern Fallujah, Marines said. Despite an assignment that would have allowed him to avoid such dangerous duty, he regularly asked squad leaders if he could join their assault teams, they said.

One of the first Marines to enter the house, Peralta was wounded in the face by rifle fire from a room near the entry door, said Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison, 20, of Tacoma, who was in the house when Peralta was first wounded.

Moments later, an insurgent rolled a fragmentation grenade into the area where a wounded Peralta and the other Marines were seeking cover.

As Morrison and another Marine scrambled to escape the blast, pounding against a locked door, Peralta grabbed the grenade and cradled it into his body, Morrison said. While one Marine was badly wounded by shrapnel from the blast, the Marines said they believe more lives would have been lost if not for Peralta’s selfless act.

“He saved half my fire team,” said Cpl. Brannon Dyer, 27, of Blairsville, Ga.

The Marines said such a sacrifice would be perfectly in character for Peralta, a Mexico native who lived in San Diego and gained U.S. citizenship after joining the Marines.

“He’d stand up for his Marines to an insane point,” Rogers said.

Rogers and others remembered Peralta as a squared-away Marine, so meticulous about uniform standards that he sent his camouflage uniform to be pressed while training in Kuwait before entering Iraq.

But mostly they remembered acts of selflessness: offering career advice, giving a buddy a ride home from the bar, teaching salsa dance steps in the barracks.

While Alpha Company was still gathering information, and a formal finding on Peralta’s death is likely months away, not a single Marine in Alpha Company doubted the account of Peralta’s act of sacrifice.

“I believe it,” said Alpha’s commander, Capt. Lee Johnson. “He was that kind of Marine.”
Seattle Times November 24, 2004

I was only going to use bits and pieces of the above article just to give you an idea of the type of man Sgt. Peralta was, but I couldn’t leave any of it out. And here is a little more about this incredible man that actually wasn’t in the above article.

Sergeant Peralta, a native of Mexico, joined the Marine Corps the day after he received his green card and he took the oath of citizenship in his Marine Corps fatigues.

He kept three documents on the wall of his room at his parents’ house—the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and his boot camp graduation certificate.

Before he left for Fallujah, he wrote his 14-year-old brother, “Be proud of me bro … and be proud of being an American.”
Remember Our Unsung Heroes

I know there were several bloggers who posted about this man, but I really wanted to share Sgt. Peralta’s story again to show how amazing our Marines are and how much being an American meant to this particular soldier.

Trackbacked at Castle Argghhh!