A Story You Won’t Find
In
The New York Times
The Story of a Marine Corps Hero
Many United States Marines fell in the dirty street fighting, building-by-building, in Fallujah. This was the Hell hole that the men of the Third Marines were sent to, under orders to root out the cowardly terrorists who hid behind the civilian populace and in the Mosques that these demented, soulless killers, call their sacred places, that cannot be defiled by the Infidels from America. They revere their mosques as the center of their religion and their lives. And yet, they barricade these so-called holy places that seem to teach hatred and murder of innocents to fundamentalist Islamic followers. They defile their own places of worship, by filling them with munitions, weapons and create sanctuaries for these maniacal terrorists, who fire at our troops, who are under orders not to destroy or damage these mosques. The believers of Allah are using the mosques for toilets and firing bases. Every building in every street must be cleared, floor-by-floor, room-by-room, while rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and automatic fire from Russian weapons are fired from buildings surrounding the one being cleared. This is a place of death and desperation and that is where the Marines are historically sent, to destroy an enemy so vile that they videotape the beheading of men and women civilians, even those who help in the rebuilding of Iraq.
This is where Sgt. Rafael Peralta actually requested to be sent, into the belly of the beast. He was the eldest son of Mexican parents, who immigrated to America, to find a better life, settling in San Diego, California. In his sparsely decorated bedroom at home, only three frames were on the wall, holding a picture of his Marine Corps boot camp graduation group, The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights. The media now sees the last two items, as politically incorrect and shunned by many, since these texts mention God, throughout their wording, by our Founding Fathers. But Sgt. Peralta wasn’t politically correct; he had always wanted to be a Marine, something that left wing America haters would not even contemplate. The day that he received his Green Card, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Eventually, while he served at the Marine base in San Diego, he was transferred to Iraq, where during the first week of November, he wrote his younger brother, who looked upon him as a hero, since, three years before, their father was killed in an industrial accident. In the letter, he tells his brother that despite the fact that he was in a unit that was not going to Fallujah, he had volunteered for duty with a combat unit. He said that it might be dangerous and told his brother to take good care of their mother if something went wrong. On November 15, 2004, just five days after the Marine Corps’ 229 birthday, Rafael was with Alpha Company, First Battalion of the Third Marines, leading troops, as a Marine Sergeant does, clearing a building in Fallujah. They had searched through most of the rooms, except for one far to the rear of the building. The door to the room was closed, but they heard no sound or voices and again leading his squad he kicked the door in. Inside there were three terrorists armed with AK47’s who started to fire as the door bolted open. One round hit Sgt Peralta in the body and a second round caught him in the head. His body was thrown back into the other room from which he kicked the door in. He crumpled to the ground. It was then, that one of the terrorists threw a grenade into the room, where he lay, surrounded by his shocked squad. Knowing that he was badly wounded and with the last of his strength, he rolled over onto the grenade, allowing his body to muffle the blast of the explosion. His squad then quickly entered the other room and sent the terrorists to Hell. Sergeant Peralta had saved the lives of his squad, his brothers in arms. He was immediately evacuated, but the damage to his body was mortal and he expired before reaching the hospital. On the same day that a Marine Officer and a Navy Chaplain arrived at his families’ home with this crushing news, ironically, the letter he had written his brother arrived at their home. Sergeant Rafael Peralta had acted in the time honored code and conduct of generations of Marines, leading his men and deliberately “going in Harm’s Way.” He has been recommended for the highest honor the Armed Forces can bestow, The Medal of Honor. It will be well earned by this prototypical Marine Sergeant.
The news media revels in bad news from Iraq, because they implausibly hate President Bush, seemingly, because he has a vision of democracy occurring in the Middle East, like the tumbling of dominoes, as freedom rings and peace is imposed for the first time since the Crusades. The leftists don’t get it; we are at war, an assault like none other, which we have ever fought in our entire history. The media don’t see the evidence that this a world wide phenomenon, a war to the end, aimed at establishing Fundamentalist Islam, the Wahhabi sect, that was begun by the forefathers of the present ruling house of Saudi Arabia.
They will not overcome American might and Esprit, as long as there are young men like the hero, Sergeant Rafael Peralta who love their country enough to give their life for their fellow man and their country. God Bless Sergeant Peralta, his family and the troops around the world who stand ready to defend our shores. Sergeant Peralta was a Marine among Marines!