Sen. Daniel Inouye, who died Dec. 17, was my senator for a few years, all of them while I was too young to vote against him. While I disagreed with virtually everything he believed politically, the man was a great patriot and sacrificed tremendously serving his country the way he believed best. He served in the House for one term and in the Senate from 1962 onward, representing Hawaii almost from the minute it became a state. Before that, he was grievously wounded in Italy during World War II. He lost an arm in addition to other wounds while leading his platoon against heavily entrenched German positions. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions; the citation is here.
Sen Inouye was lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda at the end of last week. One of those paying his respects was retired Sen. Robert Dole, who met Inouye in a military hospital while both were recovering from their wounds. Dole insisted upon being helped to walk to the casket because "I wouldn't want Danny to see me in a wheelchair." I'm a little late with this post because I was undecided about whether to write anything about Sen. Inouye until I sawthis picture, which really moved me.
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