The body of Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye returned home today, after a somber and respectful funeral in Washington, D.C. marked by adoring speeches from President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, former President Bill Clinton, former Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki and Senator Harry Reid.
Inouye was the first Japanese-American to serve in the Senate, as well as the first to serve in the House of Representatives, and he held the record for the second-longest term of office in the Senate, 59 years.
Inouye died on Monday from respiratory failure, He was 88.
"To see this man, this senator, this powerful, accomplished person who was not out of central casting, and the way he commanded the respect of an entire nation, it hinted to me what might be possible in my own life," said Obama in a eulogy at the funeral. Obama recounted being inspired to pursue public office by Inouye, who became the senator from the president's home state of Hawaii two years before Obama was born.
Inouye broke many barriers, joining the Army after Pearl Harbor, when many of his family and friends were declared enemy aliens by the United States government and rounded up unto internment camps.
Still, many Nisei-second-generation Japanese Americans--fought for the right to join the Army. They were assigned to the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which became the most decorated infantry regiment in Army history.
Twenty-one of its members eventually received the Medal of Honor for valor in combat, including Inouye.
According to his Medal of Honor citation, Inouye was shot in the stomach before destroying two German machine gun bunkers with grenades. As he readied another grenade, his arm was shot off at the elbow. He retrieved the live grenade from his severed arm and threw it into a third bunker, destroying it, before grabbing an enemy machine gun with his remaining hand and using it to kill the last of the German resistance.
"They blew his arm off in World War II, but they never, never laid a finger on his heart or his mind,' said Clinton during his eulogy.
"I wish I could be more like that man," said Biden. "He's a better man than I am."
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