It was with great sadness
that I read last night of the passing of Daniel Inouye, one of Hawaii’s Senators. If you’re from the UK you probably haven’t heard of
him but he did great things for his country, both on the battlefield and then
in Congress.
A Japanese-American, Inouye was at Pearl
Harbor in December 1941 and was initially subject to the ban on people of
Japanese origin serving in the US forces. However he signed up in 1943 and
served with distinction, being promoted to Sergeant within his first year and losing
his right-arm in combat in 1945, for which he would be given the Medal of Honor
(originally he was given a DSC due to racism in the armed forces but this was
upgraded by Bill Clinton). I sadly don’t have to time to write out what he did
but it was a ridiculous act of bravery and you can learn more about it here.
Inouye went on to serve in
the House of Representatives as Hawaii’s first federally elected representative
and then joined the Senate in 1962. During his time as a Senator he took part
in the Watergate investigation, chastised Oliver North in the Iran Contra
affair and was elected for 9 consecutive terms.
His last office was to become
President pro tempore of the Senate, the third on line to the Presidency after
the VP and the Speaker of the House. Admittedly Inouye gained this position by
being the most senior member of the largest party (as is tradition) but he had
still risen to incredible heights. In taking on the role Inouye became the highest
appointed Asian-American in the history of the US.
He died on December 17th,
with his last utterance reported to be ‘Aloha’. He was held in such respect
that he lay in state at the US Capitol (only the 31st person to do
so) and then at the Hawaii State Capitol, before being interred in the
graveyard where so many friends from his old unit were buried after falling in
battle in Italy.
Two quotes to finish with. The
first is from historian Richard Norton via PBS. "The fact of the matter is he
distinguished himself on behalf of a country that had not always accepted
him." Secondly Harry Reid (D- NV), the Senate Majority
Leader, speaking at Inouye’s internment, said "Daniel was the best senator among us all.....whenever we needed a
noble man to lean on, we turned to Sen. Dan Inouye. He was fearless."
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