Unit hails Inouye as heroes' hero
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
He has long been a soldier's soldier, and, in Washington, D.C., a senator's senator.
But yesterday, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, a World War II Medal of Honor veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, was honored by his comrades as a heroes' hero.
"Senator Dan," as they called him, gave all the credit back to the men whom he marched among.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
They were all Americans of Japanese ancestry who volunteered to defend their country and prove their loyalty at a time when many of their families were being held in U.S. internment camps for fear they would help Japan.
U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye was escorted by Admiral Thomas B. Fargo to his table at the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's banquet. Inouye lauded fellow 442nd veterans, saying "there is no such man as a one-person hero."
"I believe this medal belongs not to us, but to you," Inouye told a crowd of 1,700, half of them 442nd veterans, at the climax of the 60th reunion of the renowned "Go For Broke" soldiers in Waikiki yesterday.
"There is no such man as a one-person hero," Inouye said. "We didn't become heroes singlehandedly.
"One becomes a hero because of camaraderie," because of the support and sense of duty to other soldiers, and because of what parents and teachers and culture have taught, he said.
The empty sleeve of Inouye's tailored gray suit was an emblem of that day in Italy in 1944 when, already hit by a bullet in the gut, Inouye threw two grenades and kept on charging.
When a German rifle grenade shredded his right arm, Inouye threw his last grenade with his left hand, tucked a Thompson submachine gun under his good arm and dashed forward, taking out another machine gun nest before another bullet, in the leg, knocked him back down the hill.
"I really don't remember that battle," Inouye said yesterday. "What I know is what they told me, and when they told me I couldn't believe it. 'I'm not that nuts,' I said."
The senator said that as a politician he was used to being praised, "I even expect it," but "to be honored by your brothers, that is the highest one can hope to get. I will never forget this."
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Five other living Medal of Honor winners from the 442 were also recognized by the unit yesterday: Barney Hajiro of Waipahu, Shizuya Hayashi of Pearl City, Yukio Okutsu of Hilo, George Sakato of Denver, Colo., and —Êalthough he was unable to attend — Yeiki Kobashigawa of the Wai'anae Coast.
Representatives from the 26 club chapters take the stage at the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's 60th Anniversary Banquet.
Ronald Oba of F Company lightened the mood with a roll call of ranking members of each club chapter, and an appropriate order. "Anti-tank, Wally Kagawa, fire one," he said. "Cannon Chapter, Kazutaka Saiki, fire two. Medics, Ted Matsuo, sick call. 522 Artillery, fire for effect."
As each unit was called, its members in their white club shirts stood up at their tables like bouquets of white flowers blossoming across the Sheraton Waikiki ballroom.
Club President Eichi Oki thanked the Sons and Daughters of the 442nd for helping stage the reunion, and thanked everyone present "for joining us old war horses for probably the last bugle call to the regiment in Honolulu."
But Inouye wasn't ready to sound a "last hurrah" for his 442 comrades. "Most of them will be back 10 years from now," he said to loud applause.
Inouye also took time to honor the newest crop of warriors, in battle yesterday in Iraq.
"This," he said of them, "is a great generation, perhaps greater than ours.
"God speed to all of you, and God bless America."
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
