Inouye's life a film

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Sen. Daniel Inouye, seen here during the 1973-74 Watergate hearings, is subject of a new film. Juniroa Productions 'Daniel K. Inouye: An American Story' premiere 5:30 p.m. April 5, USS Missouri Memorial $150 for individual ticket, $1,500 to $10,000 for tables Information: 423-0012 The 5:30 p.m. reception will be followed by a program at 7:30 and the 8:25 film premiere. Proceeds benefit the Missouri Memorial.

"Daniel K. Inouye: An American Story," a biographical film about Hawai'i's senior senator and most famous World War II hero, grew, in part, out of Inouye's long friendship with the Giugni family. Heather Giugni's father, Henry, was a member of Inouye's inner circle, an aide to the senator for some 30 years and Senate sergeant-at-arms from 1987 to 1990.

The documentary traces pivotal moments in Inouye's life and connects them to the story of a political career dedicated to social justice.

Inouye's service as a member of the U.S. Army 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the role he played in Hawai'i's Democratic Revolution of the 1950s helped to establish a political career that would include roles in some of the nation's most important events. He was keynote speaker at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, a member of the Senate Watergate committee in 1974 and chairman of the Iran-Contra hearings in 1987.

"(Inouye's) life is the history of contemporary Hawai'i, from the arrival of immigrant workers, to statehood, to Vietnam, to the present," Giugni says.

On April 5, the USS Missouri Memorial Association hosts the premiere of the biographical film. Proceeds benefit the continuing refurbishment of the Missouri, a World War II battleship that Inouye was instrumental in bringing to Hawai'i. Inouye is expected to attend.

Giugni, who started Juniroa in 1986 with Esther Figueroa, said the Inouye project has been on her mind "always."

"It's a passion project for me because I love history," she says. "Hawai'i is rich with heroes like Sen. Inouye, but we take things for granted. Look at Patsy Mink: Now she's gone. At a certain point, I just had to do it."

Research began in 1998 when Giugni started compiling material and conducting interviews with key figures.

Inouye is the primary teller of his own epic tale, spanning his upbringing in Honolulu and service as one of the most respected and influential members of Congress.

GIUGNI

"It's very timely in terms of war and peace," Giugni says. "It's very consistent with why he is opposed to war today. He has remained true to peace."

The film includes interviews with Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., former Johnson aide Jack Valenti and others. Giugni also collected a wealth of archival footage, photographs, and texts — a TV clip of the signing of Hawai'i's statehood documents, for example, and sound bites of Inouye advocating statehood.

Giugni's interview with Inouye serves as the primary narrative.

The only problem was how to fit everything into a concise, watchable film.

"It was daunting to try and tell the story of someone of that stature in a one-hour story," Giugni says. "You could do three hours on the Watergate hearings alone, or three hours on Iran-Contra."

The Inouye biography serves as a springboard for further exploration, as part of a DVD package with three hours of additional footage, interview sound bites, a timeline, speeches and articles. The pieces are integrated, so that a viewer can catch 15 seconds of Inouye's historic keynote address at the 1968 Democratic National Convention and move directly to a full transcript of the speech. The DVD will be available next month. Giugni says she hopes it will be used in classrooms in Hawai'i, on the Mainland and abroad.

Juniroa is working with Hawai'i Public Television, the Japanese Cultural Center, and TV networks to arrange showings of the film, Giugni says.

Quotes from Sen. Daniel Inouye

Hawai'i's senior U.S. senator is a longtime family friend of documentarian Heather Giugni, co-founder of Juniroa Productions. Advertiser library photo

"The Lost Battalion was the first battalion of the 100th/41st Regiment of the 36th Division. They found themselves chasing the Germans, you know, and they went along not realizing that a trap had been laid for them. The Germans came from the back and surrounded them. So they sent out the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 100th/41st to bring about a rescue, break the line and bring them out. Well, they got thrown back twice. They then called us. By then, we were about one-third gone. Why did they call us? The only conclusion ... we were sent because we were expendable. You would think that we would have been angered. You know, we were not. We welcomed that because many of us felt, 'Ah this is the test.' "

Archival news footage

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1968, Inouye saw photographs of the My Lai Massacre (in which U.S. soldiers slaughtered inhabitants of a village) — a defining moment that changed his position on the Vietnam war. "How can you claim that the 5-year-old child is a Viet Cong agent or leader, or that 2-year-old baby is a dangerous person? There's absolutely no justification."

Sen. Daniel Inouye: a lifetime

• September 7, 1924 — Born, the eldest of four children, to Hyotaro and Kame Inouye
• 1942 — Graduated from McKinley High School
• 1944-1947 — Served in the Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team
• June 12, 1948 — Married Margaret Shinobu Awamura
• 1950 — Graduated from the University of Hawai'i with a bachelor's degree in economics and government
• 1952 — Graduated from George Washington University Law School
• 1953-1954 — Served as Honolulu deputy prosecutor
• 1954 — Elected to the territorial House of Representatives; re-elected in 1956
• 1958 — Elected to the territorial Senate
• 1959 — Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as the first post-statehood representative; re-elected in 1960
• 1962 — Elected to the U.S. Senate; re-elected in 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1992 and 1998
• 1968 — Delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, appealing for racial tolerance and progressive change through democratic institutions
• 1973-1974 — Gained national recognition and respect as a member of the Senate Watergate committee
• 1976-1979 — Became the first chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a post he relinquished after one term
• 1979-1988 — As the third-ranking leader among Senate Democrats, was secretary of the Democratic Conference
• 1984 — Chaired the Senate Democratic Central America study group to assess U.S. policy; served as senior counselor to the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America, the "Kissinger Commission"
• 1987 — Chaired the Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition, which held public hearings on the Iran-Contra affair
• 1988 — Secured passage of the Native Hawaiian Education Act and Native Hawaiian Health Care Act
• 1991 — Served as chairman of the Democratic Steering Committee

Source: Sen. Daniel Inouye's Web site, http://inouye.senate.gov