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He showed that again, and for the last time, when he died in a Nov. 15 firefight during the battle of Fallujah by shielding his fellow Marines from a grenade blast, according to official statements and accounts by troops who took part in the battle.

“It’s stuff you hear about in boot camp, about World War II and Tarawa Marines who won the Medal of Honor,” said Lance Cpl. Rob Rogers, 22, of Tallahassee, Fla., one of Peralta’s platoon mates in 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

Peralta, 25, as platoon scout for 1st Platoon, wasn’t even assigned to the assault team that entered the insurgent safe house in northern Fallujah where he died, Marines said. Despite a billet that would have allowed him to avoid such dangerous duty, he regularly asked squad leaders if he could join their assault teams, they said.

One of the first Marines to enter the house, Peralta was wounded in the face by rifle fire from a room near the entry door, said Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison, 20, of Tacoma, Wash., who was in the house when Peralta was first wounded.

Peralta fell to the floor near the breach, Morrison said. Moments later, an insurgent rolled a fragmentation grenade into the area where Peralta and the other Marines were seeking cover.

As Morrison and another Marine scrambled to escape the blast, pounding against a locked door, Peralta grabbed the grenade and cradled it into his body, Morrison said. While one Marine was badly wounded by shrapnel from the blast, the Marines said they believe more lives would have been lost if not for Peralta’s selfless act.

“He saved half my fire team,” said Cpl. Brannon Dyer, 27, of Blairsville, Ga.

Alpha Company Marines said such a final act would be perfectly in character for Peralta, a native of Mexico who lived in San Diego and gained U.S. citizenship after joining the Marines.

“He’d stand up for his Marines to an insane point,” Rogers said.

Rogers and others remembered Peralta as a squared-away Marine, so meticulous about uniform standards that he sent his camouflage uniform to be pressed while Alpha Company was training in Kuwait before entering Iraq. But mostly they remembered acts of selflessness: offering career advice, giving a buddy a ride home from the bar, teaching salsa dance steps in the barracks.

Sgt. Eric Esparza, 23, of Blue Island, Ill., said that when he first arrived at Alpha Company, Peralta took him in, introduced himself and fellow Marines and immediately made him feel a part of the company. The two became roommates and fast friends.

“I didn’t know anyone, and he made sure that I felt right at home,” Esparza said.

While Alpha Company was still gathering information and a formal finding on Peralta’s death is likely months away, not a single Marine in Alpha Company doubted the account of Peralta’s final act of sacrifice.