After family pleas were made to members of Congress, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has reaffirmed an earlier decision in which he said a Medal of Honor was not warranted for Hawai'i Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who died smothering a grenade in Iraq.

Peralta's family in California is not giving up, however, and said an appeal will be made to the next defense secretary under President Barack Obama.

David Donald, Peralta's brother-in-law, said Gates' reaffirmation is a "shocker" after evidence seemed to build for a review of the decision to award Peralta the Navy Cross instead of the Medal of Honor.

"I thought everything was gaining momentum," Donald said by phone yesterday. "The war is over there and we need to reward our heroes. It's just kind of a disgrace that they are going to wipe away something like (Rafael's actions). What are their reasons? They haven't given us any reasons (for the medal downgrade)."

At least four Marines with Peralta on Nov. 15, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, stated in written reports that they saw the short and stocky Marine nicknamed "Rafa" pull a grenade to his body after it had bounced into a room.

The 25-year-old Marine was with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, out of Kane'ohe Bay.

The Medal of Honor recommendation went through examinations by the Marine Corps, U.S. Central Command and the Department of the Navy before being rejected by five individuals appointed by Gates to review the nomination.

In a letter dated Tuesday to U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, Gates thanked Akaka for his letter to President Bush concerning the Peralta decision.

"The department went to significant lengths to ensure the (Medal of Honor) recommendation for Sgt. Peralta received thorough and complete consideration, just as we do every (Medal of Honor) recommendation," Gates said.

But Gates added that, unfortunately, an internal review could not reconcile "contradictory evidence." As a result, Gates said he took the unprecedented step of soliciting the counsel of five independent experts.

Those experts included a former Multinational Corps-Iraq commanding general, a Medal of Honor recipient, a neurosurgeon and two pathologists.

Questions were raised as to whether Peralta, who was hit in the head by a friendly fire gunshot, had the mental capacity to knowingly reach out and cradle the grenade.

George Sabga, a California attorney and retired combat Marine who has acted as a go-between for the Peralta family, previously said he believes the Pentagon felt it had the dilemma of "now what are we going to do? Peralta was shot by another Marine. How are we going to explain this?"

Sabga said the U.S. military "seems to be talking out both sides of their mouth."

The Navy Cross citation letter signed by Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter and presented to Peralta's mother, Rosa, states that the Iraqi grenade came to rest near Peralta's head.

"Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, Sgt. Peralta reached out and pulled the grenade to his body, absorbing the brunt of the blast and shielding fellow Marines only feet away," the citation states.

Sabga notes that the citation says he knowingly cradled the grenade.

Sabga said he plans to turn over to officials additional evidence including video shot by Marines after the firefight in which Peralta was killed. Hawai'i Marines who also may have shot video around the time of the firefight are being asked if they can contribute footage.