(MintPress) – On Monday, the longest serving current senator and the very first representative sent to Congress from the State of Hawaii died of respiratory complications at the age of 88. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) — president pro tempore, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient — was one of the most lauded and influential politicians in this nation, and he was respected and admired by Democrats and Republicans alike. In comments from President Obama Monday, the president celebrated the life of the esteemed statesman:
“Tonight, our country has lost a true American hero with the passing of Sen. Daniel Inouye. It was his incredible bravery during World War II — including one heroic effort that cost him his arm but earned him the Medal of Honor — that made Danny not just a colleague and a mentor, but someone revered by all of us lucky enough to know him.”
With three years in the House of Representative and 50 years in the Senate, he was the second-longest serving senator in the history of the nation. Only Robert Boyd of West Virginia served longer, with 51 years in the Senate. The announcement of Inouye’s death by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) shocked the Senate to its core, with members standing in the aisle or slumped in their chairs in depression.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said of his colleague, “He was the kind of man, in short, that America has always been grateful to have, especially in her darkest hours, men who lead by example and who expect nothing in return.”
The senator’s last word is reported to be “Aloha,” which both means hello and goodbye in Hawaiian.
Inouye was the first person of Japanese ancestry to serve in the Congress. He won his ninth term to the Senate with an overwhelming 75 percent of the vote.
Inouye was the definitive representative for his state. He spent most of his tenure fighting for Hawaiian concerns and securing tens of millions of dollars annually for Hawaii’s construction and infrastructure projects. He shunned the national spotlight as much as was reasonable, despite several failed runs for Senate majority leader. He served as chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee during his tenure. He also chaired the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, in which he was adopted by the Navajo nation and was dubbed “The Leader Who Has Returned With a Plan.”
Inouye served as chairman of the investigative committee for the Iran-Contra controversy, which involved the Reagan administration’s alleged illegal funneling of arms and federal funding toward the fight against Iran. He also served on the Senate Select Committee on Watergate, which led to the end of the Nixon administration.
He was the last remaining member of the Senate to have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In 1968, Inouye was pegged to serve as running mate to Hubert Humphrey, the Democratic nominee for president at the time. Inouye was selected for his service in World War II. Inouye refused, saying that he was not interested. According to his chief of staff, all Inouye wanted to do was represent his state.
A little history
Inouye was born Sept. 7, 1924 in Honolulu, Hawaii to Japanese immigrants. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he felt the impending pressure of Japanese-Americans and chose to enlist in the Army at 18 to prove his fidelity to his home nation. He was assigned to the all-Japanese-Americans 442nd Regimental Combat Team — the most highly decorated unit of its size and length of commitment in the nation’s history — where the team earned the nickname “Go For Broke.” Inouye earned the rank of captain and won the Distinguished Service Cross and the Bronze Star. Inouye’s family was never interned by the U.S. government during WWII — a rarity for Japanese-Americans.
Inouye lost his right arm in a firefight against German forces in Italy in 1945. While raiding enemy machine gun nests, a rifle grenade exploded near his right elbow, shredding his right arm while he was preparing to throw his own grenade at a machine gun emplacement. Despite this, he still threw the grenade and destroyed the gun nest. This act of valor earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest commendation. President Clinton awarded the medal to Inouye and 21 other Asian-American WWII veterans in 2000 who were denied the medal originally for racial reasons. In response to Inouye’s telling of his father’s belief that he and his family owed an unrepayable debt to America, Clinton responded, “If I may say so, sir, more than a half century later, America owes an unrepayable debt to you and your colleagues.”
Inouye entered politics because his original choice for a career, surgeon, was impossible with the loss of his dominant hand.
During his 20-month convalescence after the loss of his arm, Inouye met and became friends with Bob Dole, the future Republican senator from Kansas, Senate majority leader, and Republican presidential candidate in 1996.
“With Sen. Inouye, what you saw is what you got and what you got was just a wonderful human being that served his country after the ill-treatment of the Japanese, lost an arm in the process,” Dole said about his friend. “He was the best bridge player on our floor. He did it all with one arm.”
Despite racism and outright bigotry, Inouye carried himself with dignity. Inouye graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in government and economics, and from George Washington University’s Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1952.
Inouye married Margaret Shinobu Awamura in 1949. They had one child, Daniel Jr., in 1964. Inouye remarried in 2008 to Irene Hirano after the 2006 death of Margaret.
Inouye received many foreign acknowledgements, including the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun from the Emperor of Japan in 2000 and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers — Japan’s highest honor for foreigners who are not a head of state — in 2011; named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007; and the Order of Lakandula, the Order of Sikatuna and a Presidential Unit Citation from the Philippines. In the United States, he has won the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart with cluster and 12 other medals and citations. He was entitled Chief Commander of the Philippine Legion of Honor.
The citation for his Medal of Honor reads:
“Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. 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.”
Prior to his death, he asked Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) to name Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii), a fellow Japanese-American, to be his successor upon his death.
While Inouye was not a native Hawaiian, he cared deeply for his home state and the issues facing it. In appreciating the career of Inouye, a proper understanding of the state he loved is needed.
The conquest of Hawai’i
(Note: The state’s official name is Hawaii, as recognized by the state’s constitution and federal law. Hawai’i — the apostrophe represents a short breath before pronouncing the final syllable — refers to the name of the region in the Hawaiian language.)
Hawaii is America’s 50th and youngest state (although, Puerto Rico’s entry as a state in 2022 threatens to steal away this distinction). America’s own tropical destination, its warm climate, diverse flora and happy-go-lucky populace makes this island a tourist mecca, and its position halfway between North America and Asia makes the state essential for trans-Pacific trade and military operations.
Hawaii is the United States’ only island-based state (again, this distinction will be lost with the admission of Puerto Rico). Hawaii is also the only sovereign nation that was annexed into the United States in its entirety (Texas was a state of Mexico that declared independence during the Texas Revolutionary War). In the name of corporate and monetary interests, American-based plantation owners disposed the queen and overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii, which existed from 1810 to 1893 and had international recognition..
Hawaii was first occupied by Polynesians from the Marquesas in 300 A.D., with immigration from Raiatea and Bora Bora in the 11th century. The society was caste-based and each island represented a different tribe. James Cook’s arrival in 1778 was the first documented arrival of Europeans to the islands (although, others probably did arrive earlier). As the islands were unknown to Europeans, Cook named them the Sandwich islands, after his sponsor John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. Cook was killed in a failed abduction of the King of the Big Island. After this, the British regularly visited the islands, using them as a trading depot.
In part due to illnesses the white traders passed to the native Hawaiians (smallpox, measles and influenza) and in part due to the alcohol and firearms traded to the Hawaiians by Europeans, wars, famine and disease killed off half of the population. In the power vacuum, Kamehameha unified the tribes and formed the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. The House of Kamehameha will rule Hawaii until 1872.
In 1819, American Protestant missionaries landed on the islands and successfully converted much of the island’s population to Christianity. Many of the missionaries were engaged in political and commercial maneuvering at the time, which laid the framework for future conflicts.
A series of royal deaths without successors led to the landing of American and British forces in 1874 and the appointment of Kalakaua as king, who — under duress — was forced to sign the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which made all property eligible for private ownership — expanding the plantations greatly and tied voting rights to property ownership — disenfranchised the native Hawaiians and devolved power from the throne. As a result, Asian-Hawaiians were denied a say in government, while white-Hawaiians became the islands’ elite.
Queen Lili’uokalani’s call for a balanced constitution caused the European and American business leaders to form a “Committee of Safety” in 1893 to overthrow the throne. The committee installed itself as the provisional government, despite the formal and international protests by the queen. President Cleveland’s Blount Report found the overturning of the queen’s government and ordered its restoration, which the committee refused. Congress released its Morgan Report, that exonerated the “Committee of Safety” and effectively legitimized the government.
Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii in 1885 as contract workers for the sugar cane and pineapple plantations. The “Big Five” — or the five major sugar cane growers that financially controlled Hawaii from 1900 until its ratification as a state, and which are the major underwriters of the Hawaiian Republican Party today — flooded the islands with foreign immigrants to use as cheap labor (which was illegal to do on the mainland).
The United States has since apologized for its consent via the Morgan Report. The government issued the Apology Resolution of 1993, the first and only time the United States ever apologized for the overthrowing of a sovereign government. However, the Native Hawaiians Study Commission of the United States Congress found, in 1983, that the United States owe no reparations, assistance or granting of group protections to the native Hawaiians.
Even though the Hawaii State Constitutional Convention of 1978 added programs, such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, to the government toward promoting Hawaiian language and culture, many native Hawaiians rightfully feel that their land was taken from them. Hawaii is a majority-minority state, in which the state’s population majority is of Asian ancestry. Only 22.7 percent of the state’s population is white, per the 2010 Census.
The push toward native Hawaiian sovereignty has taken many forms over the years. Currently, native Hawaiians are seeking semi-sovereignty — similar to the political structure Native Americans celebrate on the mainland and in Alaska — in which the various tribes are allowed to self-govern with guaranteed sovereignty to all entities except the federal government. The proposed Akaka Bill — named after Hawaii’s other senator, Daniel Akaka (D) — would grant native Hawaiians established distinction as an indigenous people, allow them to seek self-governance of Hawaiian lands and allow an avenue of redress via a proposed United States Office for Native Hawaiian Relations. A “Native Hawaiian Interagency Coordinating Group” would also be established to assist in the coordination of federal policies and agencies in response to Native Hawaiians’ needs, excluding the Department of Defense.
The bill passed both houses of Congress, but a compromise between the two versions of the bill has yet to materialize — blocking final passage.
Native Hawaiians typically don’t face the same living challenges as Native Americans, as native Hawaiians are intermarried into mainstream Hawaiian culture. However, native Hawaiians face more housing problems than non-native Hawaiians (due to low income and a shortage of low-income housing) and are more likely to be poorer than the region’s median income. Native Hawaiians are more likely to be involved in federal, state and local assistance programs. A report from SMS Research shows that more than 20 percent of all homeless people in Hawaii are native Hawaiians.
In Hawaii, there is a saying: “Mohala i ka wai ka maka o ka pua.” Literally, it means, “unfolded by the water are the faces of the flowers.” It is better understood as, “Flowers thrive where there is water.” Past injustices denied native Hawaiians their “water.” We, as a people, must offer to all Americans the same right to thrive.