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US Navy - Guided Missile Destroyer
DDG 118 - USS Daniel Inouye
 
ddg-118 uss daniel inouye insignia crest patch badge arleigh burke class guided missile destroyer us navy aegis 02x ddg-118 uss daniel inouye arleigh burke class guided missile destroyer us navy pearl harbor hawaii 36x
06/22
Type, class: Guided Missile Destroyer - DDG; Arleigh Burke class, Flight IIA TI
Builder: General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, USA
 
STATUS:
Awarded: June 3, 2013
Laid down: May 14, 2018
Christened: June 22, 2019
Launched:
October 27, 2019

Commissioned: December 8, 2021
IN SERVICE

 
Homeport: Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
Namesake: Senator Daniel Ken Inouye (1924-2012)
Ship's Motto: GO FOR BROKE
Technical Data: see: INFO > Arleigh Burke class Guided Missile Destroyer - DDG
 
images

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passing the USS Arizona memorial - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - December 7, 2022

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arriving in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii - October 2022

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off Hawaii - December 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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commissioning ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - December 8, 2021

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prepared for commissioning - December 7, 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii - November 2021

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off Hawaii - November 2021

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off Hawaii - November 2021

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off Hawaii - November 2021


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departing General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine - October 2021

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acceptance trials

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departing General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine for acceptance trials - February 2021

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departing General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine for builder's trials - December 2020

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departing General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine for builder's trials - December 2020

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departing General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine for builder's trials - December 2020

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departing General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine for builder's trials - December 2020

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departing General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine for builder's trials - December 2020

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outfitting at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine - undated

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prepared for launching at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine - October 2019

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prepared for launching at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine - October 2019

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christening ceremony - June 22, 2019

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under construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine - December 2018

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under construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine - December 2018
 
 
USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118):
 
The Navy will commission the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, during a 10:00 a.m. (HST) ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham, December 8, 2021.

The future USS Daniel Inouye is named in honor of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, who served as a Hawaii representative in the Senate from 1963 until he died in 2012.

The Honorable Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy, will deliver the keynote address at the ceremony. Remarks will also be provided by The Honorable David Ige, Governor of Hawaii; The Honorable Kaiali’i Kahele, U.S. Representative, Hawaii’s 2nd District; The Honorable Rick Blangiardi, Mayor of Honolulu; Adm. Samuel Paparo, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Mr. Ken Inouye, Sen. Inouye’s son; and Mr. Ed Kenyon, Director of New Construction Programs, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.

“The late Senator Daniel Inouye spent his entire life in public service, both in uniform and out,” said Del Toro. “Senator Inouye’s life is one to be emulated and the crew of this warship will not only be inspired by his legacy, but will stand the watch with the honor and dignity deserving of a ship bearing his name.”

The ship’s sponsor Mrs. Irene Hirano Inouye, Sen. Inouye’s wife, established a strong bond with the crew before her passing on April 7, 2020. At the keel laying in 2018, she welded her initials into the ship's keel and, in 2019, she broke a bottle of champagne on the bow in a christening ceremony bestowing the name on the ship. During a "mast stepping" ceremony, she placed items special to Sen. Inouye in the ship's mast. Mrs. Inouye appointed two Matrons of Honor to assist with sponsorship duties: Jessica Inouye, the wife of Senator Inouye’s only son Ken, and Jennifer Sabas, Senator Inouye’s former chief of staff and current executive director of the Daniel Inouye Institute. In a time-honored Navy tradition, Jennifer and Jessica, along with the Maid of Honor, Maggie Inouye, Sen. Inouye’s granddaughter, will give the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life,” in Mrs. Inouye’s stead.

The commissioning ceremony coincides with the 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Commemoration events. On December 7, 1941, Daniel Inouye was a 17-year-old senior at Honolulu’s McKinley High School and rushed to a Red Cross aid station to help civilians and Sailors wounded in the attack.

On April 21, 1945, while serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team in Italy during World War II, an exploding grenade shattered his right arm during an assault. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation. He remained at the head of his platoon until they broke the enemy resistance and his troops deployed in defensive positions, continuing to fight until the regiment's position was secured. Later in life, he received the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism during the assault.

Cmdr. DonAnn Gilmore, of Anniston, Alabama, is the ship’s commanding officer and leads a crew of 329 officers and enlisted Sailors. Gilmore is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University. She previously commanded Mine Countermeasures Crew Exultant.

"This crew put a tremendous amount of work into preparing to bring USS Daniel Inouye to life on December 8. We all share a deep sense of pride and honor to represent our namesake, the late Senator and U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient Daniel Inouye and those he represented for 53 years in the House and Senate,” said Gilmore. “Through USS Daniel Inouye's service to our nation, every Sailor aboard will strive to make ours the preeminent ship on the waterfront. We embody the ship's motto, a battle cry adopted from Senator Inouye's Army unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. We will ‘Go For Broke!’ as Daniel Inouye did on the battlefield and in halls of the Senate."

The ship is nearly 510 feet long and has a navigational draft of 33 feet. As a Flight IIA destroyer, DDG 118 is equipped with Aegis Baseline 9, which provides improved Integrated Air and Missile Defense capabilities, increased computing power, and radar capable of quickly detecting and reacting to modern air warfare and Ballistic Missile Defense threats.

Built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, Daniel Inouye was christened June 22, 2019, and delivered to the Navy on March 8, 2021.

In addition to Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), General Dynamics - Bath Iron Works (BIW) has five additional Arleigh Burke-class destroyers under construction, to include the future: USS John Basilone (DDG 122), the future USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124), the future USS Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127), the future USS Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126), and the future USS William Charette (DDG 130). Bath Iron Works is under contract to construct four additional Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with the Flight III configuration that includes enhanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense capabilities.

USS Daniel Inouye is the 69th Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer commissioned to the Navy and the first ship to bear her name. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are the backbone of the U.S. Navy's surface fleet and critical to the future Navy. They are highly capable, multi-mission ships and can conduct various operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection – all supporting the United States military strategy.

USS Daniel Inouye’s homeport is Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

US DoD
 
Daniel Ken Inouye (September 7, 1924 - December 17, 2012):

Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye (September 7, 1924 - December 17, 2012) was a Medal of Honor recipient and a United States Senator from Hawaii, a member of the Democratic Party, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2010 until his death in 2012, making him the highest-ranking Asian American politician in U.S. history. Inouye was the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.

A senator since 1963, Inouye was the most senior U.S. senator at the time of his death. He is the second-longest serving U.S. Senator in history after Robert Byrd. Inouye continuously represented Hawaii in the U.S. Congress since it achieved statehood in 1959 until the time of his death, serving as Hawaii's first U.S. Representative and later a senator. Inouye was the first Japanese American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and later the first in the U.S. Senate. Before then, he served in the Hawaii territorial house from 1954 to 1958 and the territorial senate from 1958 to 1959. He never lost an election in 58 years as an elected official. At the time of his death, Inouye was the second-oldest sitting U.S. senator, after Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.

Because of his seniority, following Senator Byrd's death on June 28, 2010, Inouye became President pro tempore of the Senate; this made him third in the presidential line of succession after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Early life:
Daniel Inouye was born on September 7, 1924, in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of Kame (née Imanaga) and Hyotaro Inouye. He was a Nisei Japanese American, as the son of a Japanese immigrant father and a mother whose parents had also immigrated from Japan. He grew up in the Bingham Tract, a Chinese-American enclave within the predominantly Japanese American community of Mo?ili?ili in Honolulu. He graduated from Honolulu's President William McKinley High School.

Family:
Inouye's wife of nearly 57 years, Margaret "Maggie" Awamura Inouye, died of cancer on March 13, 2006. On May 24, 2008, he married Irene Hirano in a private ceremony in Beverly Hills, California. Ms. Hirano was president and founding chief executive officer of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California. She resigned the position at the time of her marriage in order to be closer to her husband. According to the Honolulu Advertiser, at the time of their wedding Inouye was twenty-four years older than Hirano. On May 27, 2010, Ms. Hirano was elected by the board to chair the nation's second largest non-profit organization The Ford Foundation. Inouye's son Kenny was the guitarist for influential D.C. hardcore punk band Marginal Man.

Military service (1941-1947):
During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Inouye served as a medical volunteer.

In 1943, when the U.S. Army dropped its enlistment ban on Japanese Americans, Inouye curtailed his premedical studies at the University of Hawaii and enlisted in the Army. He volunteered to be part of the all-Nisei 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This army unit was mostly made up of second-generation Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland.

Inouye was promoted to the rank of sergeant within his first year, and he was given the role of platoon leader. He served in Italy in 1944 during the Rome-Arno Campaign before his regiment was transferred to the Vosges Mountains region of France, where he spent two weeks in the battle to relieve the Lost Battalion, a battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment that was surrounded by German forces. He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant for his actions there. At one point while he was leading an attack, a shot struck him in the chest directly above his heart, but the bullet was stopped by the two silver dollars he happened to have stacked in his shirt pocket. He continued to carry the coins throughout the war in his shirt pocket as good luck charms until he lost them shortly before the battle in which he lost his arm.

On April 21, 1945, Inouye was grievously wounded while leading an assault on a heavily-defended ridge near San Terenzo in Tuscany, Italy called Colle Musatello. The ridge served as a strongpoint along the strip of German fortifications known as the Gothic Line, which represented the last and most unyielding line of German defensive works in Italy. As he led his platoon in a flanking maneuver, three German machine guns opened fire from covered positions just 40 yards away, pinning his men to the ground. Inouye stood up to attack and was shot in the stomach; ignoring his wound, he proceeded to attack and destroy the first machine gun nest with hand grenades and fire from his Thompson submachine gun. After being informed of the severity of his wound by his platoon sergeant, he refused treatment and rallied his men for an attack on the second machine gun position, which he also successfully destroyed before collapsing from blood loss.

As his squad distracted the third machine gunner, Inouye crawled toward the final bunker, eventually drawing within 10 yards. As he raised himself up and cocked his arm to throw his last grenade into the fighting position, a German inside the bunker fired a rifle grenade that struck him on the right elbow, severing most of his arm and leaving his own primed grenade reflexively "clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore". Inouye's horrified soldiers moved to his aid, but he shouted for them to keep back out of fear his severed fist would involuntarily relax and drop the grenade. While the German inside the bunker reloaded his rifle, Inouye pried the live grenade from his useless right hand and transferred it to his left. As the German aimed his rifle to finish him off, Inouye tossed the grenade into the bunker and destroyed it. He stumbled to his feet and continued forward, silencing the last German resistance with a one-handed burst from his Thompson before being wounded in the leg and tumbling unconscious to the bottom of the ridge. When he awoke to see the concerned men of his platoon hovering over him, his only comment before being carried away was to gruffly order them to return to their positions, since, as he pointed out, "nobody called off the war!"

The remainder of Inouye's mutilated right arm was later amputated at a field hospital without proper anesthesia, as he had been given too much morphine at an aid station and it was feared any more would lower his blood pressure enough to kill him.

Although Inouye had lost his right arm, he remained in the military until 1947 and was honorably discharged with the rank of captain. At the time of his leaving the Army, he was a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart. Inouye was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in this action, with the award later being upgraded to the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton (alongside 19 other Nisei servicemen who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were believed to have been denied proper recognition of their bravery due to their race). His story, along with interviews with him about the war as a whole, were featured prominently in the 2007 Ken Burns documentary The War.

While recovering from war wounds and the amputation of his right forearm from the grenade wound at Percy Jones Army Hospital, Inouye met future Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, then a fellow patient. While at the same hospital, Inouye also met future fellow Democrat and Senator Philip Hart, who had been injured on D-Day. Dole mentioned to Inouye that after the war he planned to go to Congress; Inouye beat him there by a few years. The two remained lifelong friends. In 2003, the hospital was renamed the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in honor of the three World War II veterans.

Congressional career:
Due to the loss of his arm, Inouye abandoned his plans to become a surgeon, and returned to college to study political science under the G.I. Bill. He graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He earned his law degree from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. in 1953 and was elected into the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity. In 1953, he was elected to the Hawaii territorial House of Representatives, and was immediately elected majority leader. He served two terms there, and was elected to the Hawaii territorial senate in 1957.

Midway through his first term in the territorial senate, Hawaii achieved statehood. He won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as Hawaii's first full member, and took office on August 21, 1959, the same date Hawaii became a state; he was re-elected in 1960.

In 1962, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, succeeding fellow Democrat Oren E. Long. He was reelected eight times, usually without serious difficulty. His closest race was in 1992, when state senator Rick Reed held him to 57 percent of the vote - the only time he received less than 69 percent of the vote. He delivered the keynote address at the turbulent 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and gained national attention for his service on the Senate Watergate Committee. He was chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence from 1975 until 1979, and chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs from 1987 until 1995 and from 2001 until 2003. Inouye was also involved in the Iran-Contra investigations of the 1980s, chairing a special committee from 1987 until 1989. During the hearings Inouye referred to the operations that had been revealed as a "secret government" saying:
"[There exists] a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of the national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself."

Criticizing the logic of Marine Lt. Colonel Oliver North's justifications for his actions in the affair, Inouye made reference to the Nuremberg trials, provoking a heated interruption from North's attorney Brendan V. Sullivan, Jr., an exchange that was widely repeated in the media at the time. He was also seen as a pro-Taiwan senator, and helped in forming the Taiwan Relations Act.

In 2009, Inouye assumed leadership of the powerful Senate Committee on Appropriations after longtime chairman Robert Byrd stepped down. Following the latter's death on June 28, 2010, Inouye was elected President pro tempore, the officer third in the presidential line of succession.

In 2010, Inouye announced his decision to run for a ninth term. He easily won the Democratic primary - the real contest in this heavily Democratic state - and then trounced Republican state representative Campbell Cavasso with 74 percent of the vote.

Prior to his death, Inouye announced that he planned to run for a record tenth term in 2016, when he would have been 92 years old. He also said, "I have told my staff and I have told my family that when the time comes, when you question my sanity or question my ability to do things physically or mentally, I don't want you to hesitate, do everything to get me out of here, because I want to make certain the people of Hawaii get the best representation possible."

Honors and decorations:
Grand Cross of the Philippine Legion of Honor in 1993

On June 21, 2000, Inouye was presented the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton for his service during World War II

Also in 2000, Inouye was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan, in recognition of his long and distinguished career in public service.

In 2006, the U S Navy Memorial awarded Inouye its Naval Heritage award for his support of the U S Navy and the military during his terms in the Senate.

Grand Cross (Bayani) of the Order of Lakandula on August 14, 2006.

In 2007, Inouye was personally inducted as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by President of France Nicolas Sarkozy

In February 2009, a bill was filed in the Philippine House of Representatives by Rep. Antonio Diaz seeking to confer honorary Filipino citizenship on Inouye, Senators Ted Stevens and Daniel Akaka and Representative Bob Filner, for their role in securing the passage of benefits for Filipino World War II veterans.

In June 2011, Inouye was appointed a Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers, the highest Japanese honor which may be conferred upon a foreigner who is not a head of state. Only the seventh American to be so honored, he is also the first American of Japanese descent to receive it. The conferment of the order was "to recognize his continued significant and unprecedented contributions to the enhancement of goodwill and understanding between Japan and the United States."

In 2011, Philippine president Benigno Aquino III conferred Order of Sikatuna upon Inouye. He had previously been awarded Order of Lakandula and a Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation.

Inouye was inducted as an honorary member of the Navajo Nation and titled "The Leader Who Has Returned With a Plan".

Death:
In 2012 Inouye began using a wheelchair in the Senate to preserve his knees, and received an oxygen concentrator to aid his breathing. In November 2012, he suffered a minor cut after falling in his apartment and was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. On December 6, he was again hospitalized at George Washington University Hospital so doctors could further regulate his oxygen intake, and was transferred to Walter Reed Medical Center on December 10. He died there of respiratory complications seven days later on December 17, 2012. According to the senator's Congressional web site, his last word was "Aloha". Prior to his death, Inouye left a letter encouraging Governor Neil Abercrombie to appoint Colleen Hanabusa to succeed Inouye should he become incapacitated; instead Abercrombie appointed Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Inouye's death on the floor of the Senate, referring to Inouye as "certainly one of the giants of the Senate." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell referred to Inouye as one of the finest senators in United States history. President Barack Obama referred to him as a "true American hero."

Inouye's body lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda on December 20, 2012; only the 31st person – and first Asian-American – so honored. President Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner spoke at a funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on December 21. Inouye's body was then flown to Hawaii, where it lay in state at the Hawaii State Capitol on December 22. A second funeral service was held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu the following day.

(source: wikipedia)
 
Daniel Ken Inouye

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daniel ken inouye president lyndon b. johnson
Daniel Inouye (right) with President Lyndon B. Johnson (center) - 1966

daniel ken inouye president john f. kennedy
with President John F. Kennedy

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Daniel Inouye as a First Lieutenant of the US Army - 1940's


Medal of Honor citation:
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.

senator daniel ken inouye president bill clinton medal of honor
Senator Daniel Inouye receives the Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton - June 21, 2000



daniel ken inouye decorations awards

   
 
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ddg-118 uss daniel inouye insignia crest patch badge arleigh burke class guided missile destroyer us navy aegis 02c

ddg-118 uss daniel inouye insignia crest patch badge arleigh burke class guided missile destroyer us navy aegis 02p
 
 
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