Democratic Senator from Hawaii

Senator Daniel K. Inouye was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on September 7, 1924. As a child Inouye had various hobbies including a flock of homing pigeons, a postage stamp collection, parts for crystal radio sets and chemistry sets.

Because of his medical aid training Inouye was pressed into service as head of a first-aid litter team after the Japanese attach on Pearl Harbor. While a freshman in pre-medical studies at the University of Hawaii, Inouye enlisted on March, 1943, in the U.S. Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

He spent three months fighting the Rome Arno campaign before his unit was shifted to the French Vosges Mountains where it spent two weeks rescuing a Texas Battalion, also know as the “Lost Battalion”, surrounded by German forces. Inouye won the Bronze Star and a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant.

After being injured in battle, Dan Inouye spent 20 months in Army hospitals after losing his right arm. He came home as a Captain with a Distinguished Service Cross (the second highest award for military valor), Bronze Star, Purple Heart with cluster and 12 other medals and citations. On June 21, 2000 his Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to a Medal of Honor.

He graduated from George Washington University Law School, then returned to Hawaii and served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor for the city of Honolulu. He was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives in 1954, and later won election to the Territorial Senate.

When Hawaii became a state on August 21, 1959, Daniel Inouye was elected the state’s first congressman. He was re-elected in 1960 and elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962. During his tenure as Senator Inouye served on the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973 and 1974, and was the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition, which held public hearings on the Iran-Contra affair from May through August 1987. Inouye currently serves on the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. His Committees:

His website and contact info is at www.senate.gov/~inhofe.

Editor's Note:

Daniel Inouye died of respiratory complications on December 17, 2012 He was 88 years old. According to the senator's Congressional web site, his last word was "Aloha".