A Republican Congressman from San Diego County wrote to the U.S. Marine Corps Thursday, calling for one of their late members to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Rep. Duncan Hunter has continuously pushed for Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta to be further recognized for his actions in Iraq.

"It is my hope that the Marine Corps will continue to support Peralta," Hunter said in his letter to General Robert Neller, requesting he submit a new nomination for the fallen Marine.

A San Diego native, Peralta was an infantry rifleman of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. He lost his life during a tragic operation in Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 15, 2004.

On that day, Peralta and others were clearing out a house of enemy insurgents. On entering the building, the group received fire from automatic weapons. Peralta sustained a mortal gunshot wound to the head.

The insurgents then threw a fragmentation grenade at the Marines before escaping. In a final act of heroism, Peralta pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the blast and dying instantly.

The Marine Corps and Navy Department both recommended the Medal of Honor, the highest combat award available, based on the eyewitness accounts of Peralta's fellow soldiers. However, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates declined to grant the honor, after a panel of medical and forensic experts concluded that Peralta likely acted unconsciously in his wounded state.

After conducting their own investigation, the Navy Department instead opted to award Peralta with the Navy Cross in 2008, the highest medal available without the Pentagon's consent. Last year, the family agreed to accept the award after years of refusing it.

Since Peralta's death, two of Gates' successors have also rejected appeals made to upgrade the posthumous honor.

The matter has been further complicated by recent controversy surrounding the veracity of the eyewitness accounts. Three Marines told The Washington Post the story was false, and they concocted the narrative fearing that Peralta may have been struck down by friendly fire.

A spokesman for Hunter, Joe Kasper, said last week that the hesitance was due to politics.

"The problem in this case is that politics has overridden everything else. For some reason, somebody with the Defense Department, not the Marine Corps and not the Navy, has been committed to seeing that this award does not happen," he said.

"But the great thing is, Peralta's legacy will outlive them all and his time will eventually come. It's just a matter of when."

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