Senator Daniel Inouye, Medal of Honor winner, dies at 88

[No Elephants]

Dec 18, 6:39 AM EST

Hawaii's Inouye, senator and war hero, dies at 88

By OSKAR GARCIA
Associated Press

ONOLULU (AP) -- On Dec. 7, 1941, high school senior Daniel Inouye knew he and other Japanese-Americans would face trouble when he saw Japanese dive bombers, torpedo planes and fighters on their way to bomb Pearl Harbor and other Oahu military bases.

He and other Japanese-Americans had wanted desperately to be accepted, he said, and that meant going to war.

"I felt that there was a need for us to demonstrate that we're just as good as anybody else," Inouye, who eventually went on to serve 50 years as a U.S. senator from Hawaii, once said. "The price was bloody and expensive, but I felt we succeeded."

Inouye, 88, died Monday of respiratory complications at a Washington-area hospital. As a senator, he became one of the most influential politicians in the country, playing key roles in congressional investigations of the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals. He was the longest serving current senator and by far the most important for his home state of Hawaii.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBIT_INOUYE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-12-18-06-39-59



This Japanese American lost his arm and became a war hero, winning the medal of honor, while fighting for his country during WWII----while his parents were interned. The remarkable, unbelievably heroic acts for which he won the medal are described at the link above and, in greater detail, in his wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Inouye.

Well worth a click.

He had dropped out of college to enlist, as soon as the ban on Japanese American enlistment was lifted.

His amputation ended his goal of being a surgeon. He did not get his medal until the Clinton administration. (Shameful.)





Lt. Inouye (later captain)



(in 2008)



His last word was aloha.

Mahalo and aloha, hero and Senator. E hoʻomaha me ka maluhia.

[Enthusiast]

1. Amazing account of his military action. nt