About a month ago I first blogged about Sgt. Rafael Peralta and the heroism he displayed while in combat in Fallujah on Nov 15th. I do not want this story to die out until this Marine gets the recognition he deserves so I will continue to blog any new information I come across. Now, first see my original blog here.
I’ve come across a article written by Col. Oliver North that you may have seen already but I would like to highlight some stuff.
Most readers of this column probably haven’t heard about Rafael Peralta. With the exception of the Los Angeles Times, most of our mainstream media haven’t bothered to write about him. The next time you log onto the Internet, do a Google search on Rafael Peralta. As of this writing, the Internet’s most used search engine will provide you with only 26 citations from news sources that have bothered to write about this heroic young man. Then, just for giggles, do a Google search on Pablo Paredes. Hundreds of media outlets have written about him. The wire services have blasted his story to thousands of newspapers. Television and radio debate programs gladly provide the public with talking heads that can speak eloquently on the actions of Pablo Paredes.
You see, Pablo Paredes, a Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class, did something the liberal elites consider “heroic” and the media consider “newsworthy” – he defied an order. Last week, Paredes refused to board his ship bound for Iraq along with 5,000 other sailors and Marines. He showed up on the pier wearing a black tee shirt that read, “Like a Cabinet member, I resign.”
We know this because Petty Officer Pablo Paredes had the courtesy and forethought to notify the local media that he would commit an act of cowardice the following day. Perhaps he hoped to follow the lead of another famous war protestor who went on to become a U.S. Senator and his party’s presidential nominee by throwing away his military medals. Petty Officer Paredes stopped short of trashing his military I.D. in front of the cameras because he said he didn’t want to be charged with the destruction of government property. The media, we are promised, will continue to follow this story intently.
It is a shame that the media focus on such acts when they could tell stories about real heroes like Rafael Peralta who “saved the life of my son and every Marine in that room,” according to Garry Morrison the father of a Marine in Peralta’s unit – Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison.
If you havn’t heard about this Paredes guy then here it is:
SAN DIEGO — A Navy petty officer opposed to the war in Iraq refused to board his ship Monday as sailors and Marines deployed for the Persian Gulf.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes, 23, said he has opposed the war since its inception. Until recently, the weapons-control technician said he did not feel he had a direct role in the war. Two weeks ago, however, he said he was involuntarily transferred to the amphibious transport USS Bonhomme Richard, which ferries Marines to Iraq.
“I don’t want to be a part of a ship that’s taking 3,000 Marines over there, knowing a hundred or more of them won’t come back,” he said. “I can’t sleep at night knowing that’s what I do for a living.”
Paredes of the New York City borough of the Bronx said he joined the Navy in 2000 and has 20 months left on his six-year enlistment. He said he was stationed previously in Japan.
He said he was young and naive when he joined the Navy and “never imagined, in a million years, we would go to war with somebody who had done nothing to us.”
Paredes was at the ship’s pier at Navy Base San Diego Monday as Expeditionary Strike Group Five left for its tour in the Pacific and Indian oceans.He was wearing a black T-shirt that proclaimed “Like a Cabinet member” on the front and “I resign” on the back as he watched tugboats pull the Bonhomme Richard out of San Diego Bay.
I’m gonna post this coward’s picture up for everyone to see.
Blackfive pointed me to a article written by Smash that I would like to quote because it sums up alot.
In the big scheme of things, your action will have no impact on the war. The Bonhomme Richard sailed out of San Diego on Monday, along with her entire battle group. Your attempted desertion may have caused a media stir, but you did not delay the battle group’s departure by so much as a minute.
The embarked Marines are on their way to the Sandbox, to perform the mission that they were trained to do. You did, however, manage to fuck up your own future. As I’m sure you’re aware, the Navy isn’t just going to let you go easily. They’re going to put you on trial for desertion. You will probably end up spending a year or longer in military prison, doing hard labor. And how do you think your fellow prisoners will respond to you? Do you think they’ll respect your decision to shirk your duty?
Of course, you will also be reduced in rank to E-1, forfeit all of your pay, be dishonorably discharged, and lose eligibility for the GI bill and any veteran’s benefits you might have otherwise claimed. To your credit, you’ve stood up before the cameras and said that you are prepared to accept the consequences for your actions. We’ll see about that.
Did your new friends at Veterans for Peace and the (deceptively named) San Diego Military Counseling Project tell you the rest of the story? Did they mention that even after you are released from the brig, you would have a permanent federal criminal record as a convicted felon? How do you think that will look when you try to apply for work? What employer would want to hire someone who refuses to honor his commitments?
You also told the reporters that your wife is behind you “1,000 percent.” How long do you think she will stick around, when you can’t get a decent job? A man’s word is his bond, Pablo – and yours just dropped to junk status. And for what?
We still haven’t heard what this dramatic statement is that you are trying to make. “War is bad?”
I”m a veteran – tell me something I didn’t already know. Enlighten the rest of us: what is so gawdawful important, that it’s worth screwing up your life like this?
But let’s put your personal considerations aside for the moment. After all, a martyr cares nothing for his own life. That is how you see yourself, isn’t it?
When you were planning your dramatic “statement,” did you think for a minute about how this would affect your shipmates? You are a fire control technician on the Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile system. The Navy doesn’t have a bunch of spare FCs sitting in cold storage. Your ship is going to the Arabian Gulf, and will have to pass through the “threat arcs” of Iran’s Silkworm anti-ship missiles – and in case you haven’t noticed, we’re not exactly buddy-buddy with the mullahs these days.
The Sea Sparrow is a critical point-defense system for your ship. So your job isn’t one that the Navy can afford to shrug off – somebody else is going to have to do it.
One of two things is going to happen. Either your shipmates are going to have to pull extra shifts to cover for your absence, or – more likely – somebody from another ship is going to get emergency orders to take your place in the coming days. Maybe that person is married; maybe he even has kids. And you pulled this little stunt just in time for Christmas. No man is an island, Pablo. Your actions will have consequences far beyond what you intended. Did you think about that? Is all of this really worth screwing over your fellow sailors?
Are you really so self-absorbed?
What part of “One Team, One Fight” did you not understand? The best that you can hope to achieve by continuing along the course you have chosen is for your life to become a cautionary tale ? a warning to others to avoid the siren call of blind self-righteousness.
Sgt. Hook has a good blog about this asshole also. Go check it out. I know I know, I digress. This post is supposed to be about Sgt. Rafael Peralta but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to highlight the difference's between these two men, and what a difference it is. Sgt. Rafael Peralta was proud to serve his new found country, proud to serve with his fellow soldiers and never once turned his back on them, not his buddies, not his commander in chief, not his country. On his bedroom wall hung The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and his boot camp graduation certificate. From Col. Oliver North:
Unfortunately, unlike Pablo Paredes, Sgt. Rafael Peralta will get little media coverage. He is unlikely to have books written about him or movies made about his extraordinarily selfless sacrifice. But he is likely to receive the Medal of Honor. And that Medal of Honor is likely to be displayed next to the only items that hung on his bedroom wall – the Constitution, Bill of Rights and his Boot Camp graduation certificate.
Yes, Virginia, there are still heroes in America, and Sgt. Rafael Peralta was one of them. It’s just too bad the media can’t recognize them.
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