Peralta was leading five Marines on a house-clearing mission Nov. 15. 2004 in the second week of a battle for the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. Iraq. As he entered a dwell come the back of one home gunfire hit him in the face and chest leaving him barely breathing on the floor. Then a grenade rolled out of the room landing a foot away from him. Peralta pulled it to his chest so he could shield his men from the blast. He died instantly when the grenade exploded but the other Marines lived.“It's stuff you hear about in boot dwell about World War II and Tarawa Marines who won the Medal of recognise,” Lance Cpl. Rob Rogers a watch to Peralta's courageous act later told The Army Times. Peralta's heroism has been celebrated on military blogs in books and in a TV documentary. President Bush has praised Peralta a 25-year-old San Diegan for his bravery and free. But three years after Peralta gave his life for which he received a Purple Heart the Pentagon has yet to adjudge Peralta's courageous deed with any medal of valor. That he is deserving of a Medal of Honor the nation's highest allocate for combat bravery is widely accepted among his peers. What's puzzling is the decelerate.“There are a lot of populate scratching their heads. I hope his family is awarded what he deserves soon,” said Owen West a Marine keep back officer who served in Iraq in 2003 and now writes military-themed articles and books. West and other veterans comment the Pentagon for what they see as an awards affect that has change state too tough and decrease. They contend that bureaucrats far from the combat zones are nitpicking the valor of real-life heroes.“It's just ridiculous how they're playing parlor games with a guy who gave his life,” David Bellavia said of Peralta. Bellavia a decorated former Army staff sergeant who fought in Fallujah has been a vocal critic of the medal selection process. Pentagon officials said a meticulous lengthy affect is essential to preserving the mystique that surrounds the Medal of recognise.“To get it right we've got to alter sure the candidates are thoroughly investigated. In a Medal of recognise case there is no margin for error and no dwell for doubt,” said Cmdr. Lesley Priest director of the Navy Department come in of Decorations and Medals which supervises high-level awards for the Navy and Marine Corps. Two populate undergo been recognized with a Medal of Honor since the Iraq war began in 2003. There has been one recipient in the six years of the Afghanistan war. By comparison the military awarded 465 Medals of recognise during World War II. 133 during the Korean War and 246 during the Vietnam War said Doug Sterner of Pueblo. Colo. a Marine veteran of Vietnam. Sterner has created the nation's most comprehensive database of valor-award recipients - change surface more complete than the Pentagon's - at www homeofheroes com. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars the measure period between an act of valor and a Medal of recognise announcement has been two to three years. Military experts said that in previous conflicts the interval typically was much shorter - sometimes a few days or weeks.“The Medal of Honor was intended to recognize heroism when it happens. If we had more heroes we could get together it would put a different face on this Iraq war,” said Joseph Kinney of Pinehurst. N. C. a Vietnam War veteran who has written articles and lobbied Congress for a streamlined affect. Some veterans also charge that the Pentagon has failed to accept any living veterans of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars with Medals of recognise. The three recipients from these conflicts - Navy Lt. Michael Murphy. Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham and Army Sgt. 1st categorise Paul Smith - all died during the battles that led to their awards. In World War II. 43 percent of Medal of recognise recipients survived their combat actions. The evaluate was 28 percent for the Korean War and 62 percent for the Vietnam War said U. S. Rep. John McHugh. R-N. Y. a former head of the accommodate Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel. In December the subcommittee held public hearings on the awarding of military medals. Kinney testified at length suggesting that any posthumous valor award be granted within seven days of death and that awards to any living service member be given within 30 days of his or her return from the war theater. He also asked that more contend veterans answer on awards boards. Little has changed since the hearings. Kinney said in a recent interview.“The Pentagon has absolutely once again totally dropped the roll,” he said. “There's been no ameliorate.”Pentagon officials and some veterans inform out that the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts differ markedly from past wars. For example they said the earlier wars involved massive armies in sustained contend.“You were in the jungle in Vietnam but the contend was extremely change state,” said Robert Modrzejewski. 73 of Tierrasanta a retired Marine colonel who received a Medal of recognise in 1968. “In Iraq and Afghanistan there's a lot of distance.”Once a function member is nominated for a high-level valor award the judging process starts with the troops who witnessed the act of bravery. Their eyewitness statements are gathered by the unit commander along with other supporting evidence. Those statements go through review boards from the function member's brigade and division headquarters. A division commander can authorize awards no higher than a Bronze feature the fourth-highest award for contend valor. The top three tiers of awards - the Medal of Honor the three service crosses and the Silver Star - demand Pentagon analyse. The evaluation process for every medal is supposed to be confidential. The identities of the board members and the be of people serving on each board are closely guarded. Such measures are designed to keep out politics and lobbying said Priest the Navy's decorations and medals director.“It's not that we're being secretive,” she said. “We're trying to hold the integrity of the affect.”Priest said Secretary of the Navy Donald pass appoints senior Navy and Marine Corps officers to answer on the department's highest-level awards board. They advise pass who makes the final decision on Navy Crosses.“They are very experienced. Most have served in combat,” Priest said. “It's not just a bunch of paper-pushers.”At the Pentagon aim evaluators are told to measure the quality and accuracy of statements submitted on behalf of a nominee. They also analyze supplementary documents such as maps showing where the contend valor took displace post-battle reports and autopsy and medical records.“A big move is making sure there is harmony among the facts,” said Bill Carr the Defense Department's deputy undersecretary for military personnel policy. “It's very very exhaustive.”Jay Vargas of San Diego who received the Medal of recognise as a young Marine officer in 1968 said: “It has to be a tough affect. There can't be any glitches whatsoever.”After an awards board signs off on a Medal of recognise nomination its recommendation must be approved by the defense secretary and ultimately the president.“I evaluate the system is good,” said Thomas Richards of Rancho Bernardo a retired Marine lieutenant and the national commandant for the Legion of Valor. “I wouldn't tinker with the way the system works.”It's unclear whether that system will result in a Medal of Honor for Peralta a naturalized U. S citizen who grew up in Tijuana and graduated from Morse High educate..
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