robert gates is a steamin' pile o' SHITE

i ask myself if i think he (robert gates) would do what Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta did. i answer myself HELL NO. i don't know the man but i KNOW gates would never in a kazillion years do what sgt peralta did. please DO click on the story link and read the rest of it. please please please.

sgt peralta was NOT even an american citizen. he got his green card the day after he enlisted in the marine corps. he gave his LIFE for his adopted country.

to the family and friends and especially those whose lives sgt peralta saved, i am so very sorry for your loss

to those people and our whole country sgt peralta WAS A HERO of the HIGHEST ORDER

(where is king george? can't he make one of those executive decisions he's famous for? get sgt peralta the medal he RIGHTLY deserves - well his family. of course sgt peralta GAVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS COUNTRY)

Marine Denied Medal of Honor

Sergeant Took Grenade's Blast in Fallujah, Was Lauded by Bush

By Ann Scott Tyson

Washington Post Staff Writer
According to the secretary of the Navy, Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta gave his life to save his comrades in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004, grabbing a hostile grenade, pulling it to his body and absorbing the brunt of the blast. President Bush later praised Peralta as a hero.

But a decision by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates not to recommend him for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor, stirred an outcry yesterday by his family and Marines whose lives he saved.

Peralta instead will be posthumously awarded the second-highest award for valor in combat, the Navy Cross, the military announced Tuesday.

Peralta's family members said they could not understand the decision, which was delivered to Peralta's mother, Rosa, by a Marine general on Tuesday.......