Text 5375, 88 rader
Skriven 2004-11-26 06:44:26 av John Hull (1:379/1.99)
   Kommentar till text 5277 av FRANK SCHEIDT (1:123/140)
Ärende: What Marines Do
=======================
24 Nov 04 22:56, FRANK SCHEIDT wrote to JOHN HULL:

 FS> -=> Quoting John Hull to All <=-

 JH>> This story shows what kind of people we have in the Marine Corps,
 JH>> despite what some Swedes might think to the contrary.

 JH>> Marine sacrifices his life for others in grenade blast 

 JH>> By Gordon Trowbridge
 JH>> The Army Times

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

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

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

 JH>> Peralta, 25, as platoon scout, wasn't even assigned to the assault
 JH>> team that entered the insurgent safe house in northern Fallujah,
 JH>> Marines said. Despite an assignment that would have allowed him to
 JH>> avoid such dangerous duty, he regularly asked squad leaders if he 
 JH>> could join their assault teams, they said.  
 JH>> One of the first Marines to enter the house, Peralta was wounded 
 JH>> in the face by rifle fire from a room near the entry door, said 
 JH>> Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison, 20, of Tacoma, who was in the house when 
 JH>> Peralta was first wounded.  

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

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

 JH>> "He saved half my fire team," said Cpl. Brannon Dyer, 27, of
 JH>> Blairsville, Ga.  
 JH>> The Marines said such a sacrifice would be perfectly in character 
 JH>> for Peralta, a Mexico native who lived in San Diego and gained 
 JH>> U.S. citizenship after joining the Marines. 
 JH>> 
 JH>> "He'd stand up for his Marines to an insane point," Rogers said. 

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

 JH>> But mostly they remembered acts of selflessness: offering career
 JH>> advice, giving a buddy a ride home from the bar, teaching salsa 
 JH>> dance steps in the barracks.  
 JH>> While Alpha Company was still gathering information, and a formal
 JH>> finding on Peralta's death is likely months away, not a single 
 JH>> Marine in Alpha Company doubted the account of Peralta's act of 
 JH>> sacrifice. 

 JH>> "I believe it," said Alpha's commander, Capt. Lee Johnson. "He was
 JH>> that kind of Marine." 

 FS> I'll give you 100:1 odds that this will NOT appear in any Swedish 
 FS> newspaper ... instead there will be another article about the 
 FS> "Murderous American Marine Shooting The Unarmed Iraqi" ...

When I read stuff like this story, it humbles me and yet makes me ashamed of a
large part of my countrymen.  This kid wasn't even born in the US.  He was an
immigrant who worked hard to get his citizenship.  He volunteered to fight for
his new country, and by all accounts was an exemplary Marine, someone for the
enlisted ranks to look up to and emulate.  I don't know if he'll get
recommended for a Medal of Honor but he should be.  Its people like him that
made this country great.

John 

America:  First, Last, and Always!
Go to www.madgorilla.us for all your Domain Name Services at the lowest rates.

--- Msged/386 TE 05
 * Origin: We are the Watchmen of our own Liberty! (1:379/1.99)