HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

19

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 1

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

STRONGLY URGING THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO AWARD SERGEANT RAFAEL PERALTA THE MEDAL OF HONOR.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, Rafael Peralta was born in Mexico City, Mexico, on April 7, 1979, to Rafael and Rosa Peralta, and was the oldest child of four siblings; and

 

     WHEREAS, Rafael Peralta enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2000, the day after he got his green card and completed boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego; and

 

     WHEREAS, during his training at Camp Pendleton's School of Infantry, Rafael Peralta earned the military specialty 0311, also known as Marine Rifleman, and was then issued orders to the 3rd Marines Regiment stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe; and

 

     WHEREAS, his battalion redeployed to Iraq's Anbar Province in 2004 as part of Operation Phantom Fury to battle insurgents in their stronghold of Fallujah; and

 

     WHEREAS, on November 15, 2004, while assisting one of his rifle platoon's squads to clear a house of terrorists and insurgents, Sergeant Peralta was mortally wounded when he smothered an enemy grenade with his body to protect the soldiers in his platoon, and is credited for saving the lives of six of his fellow Marines; and

 

     WHEREAS, for Sergeant Peralta's heroic actions, he was awarded the Purple Heart and Navy Cross; and
     WHEREAS, during his military career, he was also awarded the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon; and

 

     WHEREAS, upon hearing of Sergeant Peralta's bravery, in late 2004, United States Representative Bob Fliner wrote a letter to then Marine Corp Commandant General Michael Hagee recommending Sergeant Rafael Peralta for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force that can be bestowed upon an individual serving the United States armed forces; and

 

     WHEREAS, Defense Secretary Robert Gates convened a five‑member board, which on September 18, 2008, concluded that Sergeant Rafael Peralta's actions did not warrant the Medal of Honor, citing that the evidence did not meet the exacting "no doubt" standard necessary to support the awarding of the nation's highest military award; and

 

     WHEREAS, in November 2008, Defense Secretary Robert Gates rejected a request by several members of Congress to upgrade the valor award for Marine Sergeant Rafael Peralta and announced his decision not to conduct further reviews into Sergeant Peralta's actions; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature strongly urges the Secretary of Defense to reconsider his decision to not award the medal of honor to Sergeant Rafael Peralta; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in reconsidering the foregoing decision, the Secretary of Defense is respectfully requested to consider all the facts and circumstances surrounding the sacrifice made by Sergeant Peralta, and give substantial weight to the statements of the Marines who personally witnessed the incident, which statements establish without a doubt that the Medal of Honor should be awarded to Sergeant Peralta, rather than basing the decision on the conclusions of a pathologist who did not witness the incident, which conclusions have been disputed by at least four other medical experts, including Sergeant Peralta's battalion surgeon, two neurosurgeons, and a neurologist who examined the autopsy reports; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the current President of the United States have an opportunity to examine all the facts and circumstances surrounding the sacrifice made by Sergeant Rafael Peralta for his fellow soldiers and for the current President to have an opportunity to comment on the issue of whether or not to award the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Rafael Peralta; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, each member of Hawaii's congressional delegation, the President of the Senate and Majority Leader of the United States Congress, Speaker of the House of the United States Congress, and the mother of Sergeant Rafael Peralta.

Report Title:

Medal of Honor; Sergeant Rafael Peralta