Fallen Hero: Sgt. Rafael Peralta

Rafael Peralta was a Mexican American. 

He joined the Marines the day after he got his green card and earned his citizenship while in uniform.

  Only three items hung on his bedroom walls in his parents' home: a copy of the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and his Marine Corps boot camp graduation certificate. 

  Rafael Peralta was a 25-year-old sergeant in Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. 

What he did in Fallujah, Iraq, on November 15, 2004, was an unbelievable act of selfless sacrifice and faithfulness to his fellow Marines. 

 A week into the battle for Fallujah, the Marines were still doing the deadly work of clearing the city, house by house.

 Sgt. Peralta regularly volunteered for assault teams that were more dangerous than his assignment would have been otherwise. And he volunteered to go out with the assault team that day.

  According to Marine combat correspondent Lance Cpl. T.J. Kaemmerer, who witnessed the events that day, the squad had cleared 3 houses without incident. The Marines entered the 4th house and kicked in the doors of two rooms that proved empty. But there was another closed door to an adjoining room. It was unlocked, and Peralta, in the lead, opened it. He was immediately hit multiple times with AK-47 fire in his face and upper torso by three insurgents. As he fell, severely wounded, he managed to wrench himself out of the doorway to give his fellow Marines a clear line of fire. The gunfire was deafening. During the firefight, ''a yellow, foreign-made, oval-shaped grenade bounced into the room, rolling to a stop close to Peralta's nearly lifeless body." 

 The uninjured Marines tried to scatter out of the way, two of them trying to escape the room, but were blocked by a locked door. At that point, barely alive, Peralta grabbed the grenade and cradled it to his body. His body took most of the blast. One Marine was seriously injured, but the rest sustained only minor shrapnel wounds.

"Most of the Marines in the house were in the immediate area of the grenade. We will never forget the second chance at life that Sgt. Peralta gave us." -- Lance Cpl. Kaemmerer

On April 4, 2006, Sgt. Peralta became an honorary police officer with the San Diego Police Department. Police Chief William Lansdowne said the department felt strongly about honoring Peralta, who always wanted to wear the badge.

"He is exactly what we would have been looking for. In his name and memory, they will always have a badge. He truly is, in our hearts, a member of this police department."

Rafael wrote to his brother, Ricardo, then 14:

''Be proud of being an American. Our father came to this country and became a citizen because it was the right place for our family to be."

It was the first letter he ever wrote to Ricardo - and the last. 

It arrived in San Diego the day after he died.

Requiescat In Pace, Marine.

 

Sources: 

January 11, 2005 National Review Online Rich Lowry: "Everyone Should Know His Name" 

  May 29, 2005 Boston Globe Jeff Jacoby: "Death of a Marine"