A San Diego Marine posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his valor while in Iraq may still be a candidate for the Medal of Honor.
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, San Diego Congressman Duncan Hunter asked for Peralta's award to be reviewed for upgrade.
Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta was awarded the Navy Cross in 2008, after becoming mortally wounded and pulling a grenade beneath his body to protect his fellow Marines nearly four years earlier.
Hunter asked for Panetta to review and consider upgrading the awards of any service member who may have been overlooked for the Medal of Honor.
"There is no amount of time or difficulty that should prevent us from ensuring we properly recognize the heroism and sacrifice of this generation's combat heroes" Hunter said in his letter.
Peralta was born on April 7, 1979, in Mexico. He emigrated to the United States and joined the Marine Corps on April 17, 2000. He later became an American citizen.
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