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News
Sen. Dan Inouye: Man of courage, humanity, dignity
By Michael Zuckerman
and David Gergen
(CNN) — As the nation contin-
ues to grieve for the six adults and
20 children taken too soon in the
Newtown, Connecticut, school
shooting, a hero from another gen-
eration has slipped peacefully into
the pages of history.
There were many who knew
Sen. Dan Inouye, a Democrat and
Medal of Honor recipient from
Hawaii who passed away Monday,
better than we did. But we had the
good fortune of sitting with him
this past summer, interviewing
him and hearing some of the
remarkable stories from his life in
America’s service. The portrait
that emerged was that of a man of
courage, character, and, perhaps
above all, a singular spirit of peace
and good will that was forged, par-
adoxically, amid some of the most
horrendous carnage of the Second
World War.
Some of Inouye’s deeds — his
valor serving on the German front
in one of America’s most decorat-
ed (and heavily wounded) units,
his Herculean political efforts on
behalf of his home state — have
been well remarked. What we
were especially struck by was his
quiet, sagelike humanity.
There was his story, for exam-
ple, of the day during the war
when he came upon a German sol-
dier who appeared to be preparing
to kill him. The German, as
Inouye told it, put his hand into his
shirt, and Inouye, thinking he was
reaching for his weapon,
“smashed him in the face.” As the
man hit the ground, his hand fell
out of his shirt, revealing photo-
graphs — the soldier’s wife, his
kids.
“So help me, up until that
moment, I looked upon Germans
as enemies, period,” said Inouye,
who had by then killed many
enemy soldiers already. “From
that moment, I looked upon him as
a father, son, uncle, boyfriend. He
was human. And it’s not easy to
kill.”
It was, he said, what he always
told people when they expressed
disbelief that he, a decorated vet-
eran, could stand up against the
war in Iraq. “You’ve got to con-
vince me before we go to war,” he
maintained. “You would never
forget running over a dog — the
bump. If you don’t forget that,
how can you forget killing a
human being?”
To hear Inouye talk was to sit
beside a still, fathomless pool —
he spoke with a measured calm
and wisdom that made clear how
deep the dignity beneath it ran. In
that way, he called to mind an
echo of former Senate Majority
Leader Mike Mansfield — of
whom, Inouye said, “If there was a
mentor, it was him.”
And he carried Mansfield’s stoic
ability to forge consensus and
compromise with him, far into a
legislative era known for its stri-
dent opposites. Of his 12 subcom-
mittees, Inouye told us in July,
“Nine of them have reported out
their bills almost unanimously.
About six were unanimous — 30-
0. The others were 29-1, 28-2. ...
That’s this month. It can be done!
... And 30-0 includes (Senate
Minority
Leader
Mitch)
McConnell!”
His secret was deceptively
straightforward: a steady practice
of simple gestures — sitting with
senators who had objections, call-
ing a senior Republican “vice
chairman” instead of “ranking
member” (“I hate that word ‘rank-
ing’ — it’s something like
‘stink’!”), not speaking ill of any-
one to the press.
“It might take some patience,
but when I found out that you
were pissed about (a) program, I’d
sit down with you and talk about
it,” he told us. “Little things like
that make a difference.”
It was a basic humanity and a
largeness of vision that Inouye
extended to individuals from all
backgrounds, born not only out of
his experiences seeing his own
people — Japanese-Americans —
vilified and interned during World
War II (Inouye himself signed up
as soon as the U.S. government
lifted its ban on American-born
Japanese enlistments), but from
his own crucibles in the war.
Describing the injury that cost
him his right
arm and very
nearly his life,
We honor the many
accomplishments of African
Americans.
Inouye told us of being taken to
the Army hospital, of being initial-
ly counted a hopeless case, of hav-
ing his arm amputated without
anesthesia, of ultimately receiving
17 blood transfusions to stay alive.
Of those 17 transfusions, he
explained:
“That made a little difference in
my outlook on life. In our last bat-
tle, the regiment was attached to
the 92nd Division — all African-
American. Hospitals were run by
the 92nd Division, and in those
days, I don’t know about the other
hospitals, but in the one I was in,
(the blood) came in a glass bottle,
with tape — donated by so and so,
private, 92nd Division. So you
know he’s African-American.
Well I got 17 pints.
“If it weren’t for (the 92nd), I
wouldn’t be here. The war did a
lot to change your ideas. I looked
upon (people of color), as I do
today, as brothers. What else can I
do? After all, I’ve got the same
blood.”
Throughout its history, the
nation has been blessed to have
men like Inouye — reserved,
unboastful men, whose actions
show the deep reservoir of quiet
honor from which they draw their
strength. Who show the courage
that Hemingway called “grace
under pressure.”
When he was first brought to the
Army field hospital after sustain-
ing the wounds that would claim
his arm, Inouye related, “The doc-
tors looked at me; they’re mum-
bling among themselves,” he
recalled. “Two minutes later a
chaplain comes up — opening
words: ‘God loves you.’
“I said: ‘I know that. I love him
too,” he recounted with a chuckle.
“’But I’m not ready to meet him
yet!’“
No one can know the ways of
the Lord, but we would be sur-
prised if he wasn’t happy to meet
Dan Inouye today.
Michael Zuckerman is a Har-
vard College graduate who works
for the Boston Consulting Group
in Washington. David Gergen is a
senior political analyst for CNN
and has been an adviser to four
presidents. He is a professor of
public service and director of the
Center for Public Leadership at
Harvard University’s Kennedy
School of Government. Follow
him on Twitter: @David_Gergen.
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December 19, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 10