Hawai'i's congressional delegation has asked President Bush to consider posthumously awarding the Medal of Honor to a Marine who witnesses say threw his body on a grenade to save his comrades in Iraq.

Sgt. Rafael Peralta was singled out by Bush for his actions but was chosen to receive the Navy Cross, the second-highest medal the Navy can bestow for valor, because of questions of whether his final act was intentional.

Fellow Marines, however, say Peralta deliberately shielded them from the grenade Nov. 15, 2004, during fighting in Fallujah, Iraq. Already wounded by gunfire, he died immediately.

"We respectfully ask the matter to be put to further review, and that, unless a strong case can be made that demonstrates his actions were definitely unintentional, he be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor," the delegation said in a letter dated Friday.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, a Medal of Honor recipient himself, is among the four-member Democratic delegation that signed the letter that was spearheaded by Sen. Daniel Akaka.

"There has been concern expressed why the decision was made the way it was and we would like to know exactly what their thought process was and would like for them to reconsider it," Akaka spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke said Tuesday.

The White House did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.

The Defense Department has said there was a June 2007 Navy recommendation for the Medal of Honor, but it never went to the White House because Defense Secretary Robert Gates didn't approve it.

Officials scrutinized the evidence and determined the standard necessary to support Medal of Honor was not met. The question of whether to award Peralta the Medal of Honor centered on whether the mortally wounded Marine, who had been shot in the head and upper body, could have intentionally reached for the grenade and covered it with his body.

Hawai'i's delegation noted that several fellow Marines verified Peralta acted intentionally.

"Clearly, Sergeant Peralta made a deliberate decision to absorb the grenade blast in order to protect the lives of the Marines fighting directly by his side," the letter said.

The delegation also noted Sgt. James Okubo, an Army medic who risked his life to save the lives of several soldiers in World War II. During the war, Okubo was recommended for the Medal of Honor but was awarded the Silver Star.

He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2000 by President Clinton.

"This case demonstrates that mistakes can be made in the consideration of our service members for the nation's ultimate military and national honor, but can be corrected after careful consideration of the facts," the delegation wrote.

The letter follows a similar request by a California bipartisan delegation on Sept. 19, which urged Bush to award Peralta the honor.

Bush singled out the Marine's actions in a 2005 Memorial Day speech, saying Peralta "understood that America faces dangerous enemies, and he knew the sacrifices required to defeat them."

Peralta, 25, was assigned to Hawai'i's 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. He had moved to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico, as a teenager.