1st. Lieut. Alexander Bonnyman Staff Srg.William Bordelon Col. David Monroe Shoup
Lieut. William Deane Hawkins
As of this writing the Internet's most used search engine will provide you only 26 citations from news sources that have bothered to write about this heroic young man. Then, just for contrast, 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. Petty Officer 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 T-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 he would commit this act the following day. Perhaps he hoped to follow the lead of another famous war protester who went on to become a U.S. senator and his party's presidential nominee by throwing away his military medals.
Senator John Kerry
It is a shame the media focuses 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 Sgt. Peralta's unit - Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison.
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 destroying government property. 
On the morning of Nov. 15, the men of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines awoke before sunrise and continued what they had done seven days previously - cleansing the city of Fallujah of terrorists house by house.
LanceCorporal Travis Kaemmerer
Peralta's fellow Marines had to step over his body to continue the shootout with the terrorists. As the firefight raged, a "yellow, foreign made, oval-shaped grenade," as Lance Cpl. Travis Kaemmerer described it, rolled into the room where they stood and stopped near Peralta's body.
Sgt. Rafael Peralta was the polar opposite of Pablo Paredes, the petty officer who turned his back on his shipmates and mocked his commander in chief.
Peralta was proud to serve his adopted country. In his parent's home, on his bedroom walls hung only three items.
A copy of the U.S. Constitution A Copy Of The Bill of Rights And his boot camp graduation certificate. Boot Camp Graduation Day
Before he set out for Fallujah, he wrote to his 14-year-old brother, "Be proud of me bro ... and be proud of being an American." Not only can Rafael's family be proud of him, but his fellow Marines are alive because of him. As Sgt. Rafael Peralta lay near death on the floor of a Fallujah terrorist hideout, he spotted the yellow grenade that rolled next to his near lifeless body. Once detonated, it would take out the rest of Peralta's squad. To save his fellow Marines, Peralta reached out, grabbed the grenade, and tucked it under his abdomen where it exploded.
"Most of the Marines in the house were in the immediate area of the grenade," Cpl. Kaemmerer said. "We will never forget the second chance at life that Sgt. Peralta gave us."
Unfortunately, unlike Pablo Paredes, Sgt. Rafael Peralta didn't get much 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 if he does 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.
Page By Mary Jones
May--2006
Pablo Paredes was convicted in a court-martial trial. However the judge decided not to sentence him to a jail term - instead he sentenced him to serve three months of hard labor. He was also demoted from petty officer third class to seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy. His lawyers call it a victory for war resisters around the country. The Prosecution was asking for nine months of hard labor and a bad conduct discharge. they lost on both counts. Paredes served out his sentence and received a general discharge.
