Regardless of your politics, we lost an American hero today. They will need two caskets to bury the Senator: one for him, and one for his giant clanking brass balls.
Hawaii News Now said: WASHINGTON D.C. (HawaiiNewsNow) - Daniel Inouye, a decorated and inspirational war hero who later became the highest-ranking Asian American politician in United States history by serving as the President pro tempore of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, died Monday in Washington. He was 88. ... He went on to become a war hero and decorated veteran during his service with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, earning two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star Medal and numerous other commendations during his military career. In 1943, Inouye spent three months with the U.S. Army North service command in the Rome-Arno Theater of Operation in the Mediterranean. A year later, he was moved to the Vosges Mountains in France, where he helped rescue the "Lost Battalion," a battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment from Texas that had been surrounded by German forces. He was awarded the Bronze Star and a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant shortly thereafter. Having returned to Italy in 1945, Inouye was leading a platoon attacking a heavily-defended hill in San Terenzo when he was shot in the stomach by an enemy sniper round. Undeterred, he advanced, alone, to within a few yards of two machine gun turrets, which he destroyed with grenades and small arms fire. His right arm was completely shattered during an attempt to disable a third gun turret, when he was hit on the elbow by a German rifle grenade. Inouye managed to throw another grenade with his left hand and destroy the final turret before falling to the bottom of the ridge. Shortly after the attack, having been given too much morphine by a field medic, the remainder of Inouye's right arm was amputated without the use of anesthesia out of fear that any more medication would lower his blood pressure to a potentially fatal level. Following a reevaluation of the military accomplishments of Asian Americans in World War II, Senator Inouye was presented with the Medal of Honor by then-President Bill Clinton for his heroism in Italy more than 50 years earlier during a ceremony on June 21, 2000. "By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge. Second Lieutenant Inouye's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army," reads Inouye's Medal of Honor citation.
Aloha, Senator.
