Destroyer named after Marine hero Sgt. Rafael Peralta to be commissioned next summer

The destroyer named for Navy Cross recipient Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta will be commissioned next summer, a Navy official said.

Also considered for the Medal of Honor, Peralta was killed Nov. 15, 2004, during a building-clearing mission in Fallujah, Iraq. He fell to the floor after receiving a fatal head wound from a ricocheting bullet fragment. Insurgents tossed a grenade at Marines and that landed near Peralta’s head.

“Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, Sergeant Peralta reached out and pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away,” Peralta’s Navy Cross citation says. “Sergeant Peralta succumbed to his wounds.”

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