Despite being an ethnic minority, young Daniel Inouye displayed a true sense of patriotism as a soldier who fought wholeheartedly against the axis powers in World War II. In March 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the famed “Go For Broke” regiment. He was soon promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was designated as a combat platoon leader during the Italian campaign. He slogged through nearly three bloody months of the Rome Arno campaign with the U.S. Fifth Army.
Evan Leong: Welcome to Greater Good Radio Hawaii, where leaders inspire leaders. Greater Good Radio Hawaii is dedicated to social entrepreneurship. I’m your host Evan Leong and with me is my co-host Kari Leong. Today’s show is brought to you by Central Pacific Bank, fiercely loyal banking.
Kari Leong: Today’s guest is Senator Daniel Inouye, who broke into politics in 1954 with his election to the Territorial House of Representatives. When Hawaii became a state on August 1959, Senator Inouye won election to the United States House of Representatives as the new state’s first Congressman. Senator Inouye is currently serving his seventh consecutive term in the Senate. He worked for additional jobs for Hawaii’s economy, and health and human services in rural communities. His other projects include affordable housing and the protection of America’s natural resources. Please welcome to Greater Good Radio, Senator Daniel Inouye. Welcome to our show senator, thank you for being here today.
Daniel Inouye: It’s good to be here.
Kari Leong: So congratulations, you’ve served Hawaii as senator for a little over 40 years; 44 years now. How do you feel about that?
Daniel Inouye: I’ve been in since 1963. But I was in the house before that in ’59 when Hawaii became a state. And before then I was in the territorial legislation. That’s before you’re folks were born.
Evan Leong: You’ve been in politics for so long, what is it that keeps you going doing this type of work?
Daniel Inouye: Well I must say I love my work. I love the challenges and they’re almost daily. So there’s no dull moment in my life. I would think that people who make money live a dull life. They have to spend a lot of money to make their lives exciting. In my case, everyday is an exciting day. I mean that.
Kari Leong: What made you interested in getting involved in politics?
Daniel Inouye: When I was 17, Pearl Harbor was attacked. And I soon found out that I was an enemy alien because of a decree of the government. My parents were Japanese and then as a result I could not wear the uniform of this land. And finally in early ’43, they opened the doors and we volunteered. And I served in the military as an 18-year-old private; became a sergeant and a lieutenant and a captain. I got wounded four times and when I got out of the service, I felt that I should do something to help people. Now this sounds high and mighty but I meant that. After spending time in the military, watching my friends die and get wounded, I couldn’t see ourselves going back to the plantation mode of life. And so though I had planned to become a doctor that was out of the question so I decided to go to law school and become a politician. To the chagrin of my folks because politicians were not highly regarded at that time and in some quarters they’re still not highly regarded but I went to law school and after I got out I became an assistant prosecutor for one year. Then I tried running for office and I was successful.
Evan Leong: When you first got back from the war, was it something that happened during that experience that made you clear about your path to politics and public service?
Daniel Inouye: After serving in the military and when you realize that the government made a lot of decisions, one of the greatest decisions is to go to war and to have their sons and daughters killed. But there are other decisions that are made by government that affect all of our lives; education for one, health conditions, environment, etc. and I felt that as a citizen of the United States, I did my part and I should do my part again.
Kari Leong: So before deciding that you were going to enlist and eventually deciding that you’re going to be a politician, when you were a young boy, was your path towards being a doctor?
Daniel Inouye: Well I was the eldest son in the family. And in my generation that made a difference. My father was the eldest, my grand father was the eldest, in fact for seven generations I’m the eldest. So my grand parents worked in the field in Kawai and my father began his education at 14 and so they looked upon me as the eldest son to do something about the family. And I was brought up in that sense. Even from an early age being told that never dishonor your family. And it’s rather difficult to tell my son never to dishonor your family. But in my generation it was a common phrase. Don’t dishonor us. Don’t bring any shame to us. And they were very pleased that I wanted to become a physician because let’s face it at that time it was advancement in status, schoolteacher, doctor, lawyer – getting out of the plantation. But then when I was wounded they were stunned and I said I’m going to be a lawyer. But I didn’t tell them right off that I wanted to be a politician.
Evan Leong: When was it that you thought that being a politician was okay?
Daniel Inouye: I think my parents would have approved anything that I wanted to be. They had that much faith. But they would have preferred that I… well, my mother wanted me to be a minister. This is what happened, before I began my surgical work, a rehabilitation work to face a panel of experts to determine my future, and after several consultations and examinations and taking tests, the panel concluded that number one I should be a teacher, if not a social worker, third a minister or fourth a politician. And one thing in common: you deal with a lot of people. They said I would be very unhappy doing research all by myself in a laboratory. But I would be in my best element if I dealt with a large number of people. So when I told that to my mother, wow, she was enthralled because my mother has an interesting story on her side. She was an orphan at four. She spent a little while at Susanna Wesley Home and Orphanage. And she was adopted by the bishop of the church. And so it was bible reading and singing every night for her. So she wanted me to be a minister.
Evan Leong: So did you or your family feel any tension between the religion you were brought up in?
Daniel Inouye: I was brought up as a Christian, a Methodist. My father was brought up as a Buddhist but my mother was very strict. When my father said, “May we go to lunch?” she says, “You want to take me to lunch? You get baptized first.” She was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and they don’t get any tougher than that.
Evan Leong: What do you think is the most important thing that your mom taught you?
Daniel Inouye: My mother was always very generous with me. But she always told me that as the eldest son you must sacrifice. You must never bring shame to the family. And whatever you do, do your best. And she said never be unkind. She always said there’s always a tomorrow. I’ve always applied that.
Kari Leong: You have mentioned about being a leader to your staff and also Hawaii looked at you as one of our leaders and you’ve also dealt with many leaders being in politics. What are five traits that you think a person needs to have to be an effective leader?
Daniel Inouye: Well my mother at a very early age, and I’m talking about 2 or 3 years old, pounded into me that no one is too good for you and you’re not too good for anyone else. Titles are titles. It’s what’s inside of you that counts. And after a while you begin to believe that. And I believed that. So I find it comfortable sitting down with CEOs, sitting down in interviews or with kings or prime ministers. They have their problems and emotions; I have my problems and emotions. And as long as I treat them courteously and decently, I would expect that from them too. My mother taught me a good lesson; no one’s too good for you. And don’t be afraid.
Evan Leong: Are we able to go back a little bit and talk about the 442nd to bring people to speed who may not be familiar with it; as you’re looking back at it now, how has that affected your life today?
Daniel Inouye: Immensely. Well first of all, to be a youth of 18, I was 17 at that time, and be told in your face that you’re an enemy alien; my neighbors are good; all very friendly. But to have the government of the United States; the country you love tell you that you’re enemy alien; that’s a bull. Then they tell you that you can’t serve in the military because you can’t be trusted and so when the regimen was formed, it was a natural thing for the men who volunteered, they did so for one reason, to prove that they were just as good as anyone else. Good Americans. And so when we were given assignments, we never complained. And we got the assignments to rescue the lost battalion, the attitude of many of the men was simple; this is what we wanted. This is our opportunity. Well in a battle that lasted four and a half days; five days; our casualties exceeded 800 and out of that number out of 200 dead. Now compare that to today. Two dead today, three yesterday, we had over 200 in four days. But as a result, at least in the military family there, no one said we were not Americans.
Evan Leong: Are you comfortable with that? Taking us through what it was like before and the story behind it?
Daniel Inouye: Well the big day for me is April 21st because on this day I received my last wound. And the last wound, I blew my arm off. So that meant I can never be a surgeon. You see I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. I had it all figured out but that was out of the question. And I’m going to tell you something that very few people are aware of. In World War II, when the battles were so intense and so large, the casualty rates were in the hundreds of thousands. And these field hospitals really weren’t able to accommodate them. We had no helicopters. In my case, I was evacuated at three o’clock in the afternoon. I got to the field hospital at midnight; nine hours. So when you get to the hospital, you got a whole bunch of people on stretchers. And a crew comes along; a couple of physicians and a couple of attendants. And they look at this and say, “Tent number one, tent number two, tent number three…” and do you know what that meant? One, in that case, meant treat them right away. Number two means take it easy because this one can last a long time. Number three; forget it, that’s on the verge of death. I was in tent number three and the chaplain came by and he says, “God loves you.” And I said, “I’m certain he loves me. But I’m not ready to see him yet.” And he looked at me and he says, “You know I believe you.” I said, “Yes I got a whole life ahead of me.” So I went to tent number one.
Evan Leong: You mean he moved you to tent number one?
Daniel Inouye: He called in the staff and says, “Take him to tent number one.” I had 17 transfusions. So the crew did not make a mistake. You know if they hadn’t looked after me for a couple of more hours, I think I would have just faded away.
Evan Leong: How were you coherent at that time?
Daniel Inouye: Well it’s part of discipline because after you’ve been in combat for about a year, you know that once you sleep, you go into shock and that’s it. So I made certain that I was awake. So my last wound was at noon but I stayed until three to get the men settled down. And I was just determined to stay awake. I was carried on a stretcher all the way for nine hours up and down mountains.
Evan Leong: Your men carried you?
Daniel Inouye: Prisoners. We couldn’t afford to let the men carry, we needed all the men; so just one person to guard me and German prisoners.
Kari Leong: When you were in the hospital rehabilitating is that when you were next to Bob Dole?
Daniel Inouye: Yes I got very friendly with Bob Dole. In fact I used to kid and I used to say, “Why don’t you cut it off?” It was useless. Well he told me once in a firm voice, “I came in with full limbs, I’m going out with full limbs.” He did even if it’s useless you know. There was another senator there. He was a colonel. He’s name was Phil Hart. My office is in the Hart Building. So I had the privilege of knowing two senators before they were senators. But an important part of my life was in the hospital. And it’s something that you don’t see present day patients go through. Today for example, a patient of my disability would be out of the hospital in about six months. Then after that if he needs treatment, he goes to the VA hospital. In my case I was in a military hospital for 21 months. My surgical and medical side was resolved for in about 9 months. I received a prosthetic appliance. My side was patched up. My leg patched up. And then they began rehab and that’s interesting. I never drove before I left Hawaii, so I had to take lessons to qualify me to drive in every state and in every territory. I had to play a couple of sports. I qualified in basketball and swimming. I had to learn how to do carpentry, electrical work and plumbing, not as an expert. For example you may be asking yourself, “How do I pound a nail with one hand?” In those days you can find spools of thread with a hole in the middle. Now you put that over your target, put a nail in there and bang pick up the spool and then boom, boom. I’m pretty good at that. Then I had to learn a musical instrument. Saxophone was out of the question. You need two hands for that. So they suggested the trumpet. All you need are three fingers, right? Well the instructor said you can read music because I read music before. But your lips are too soft. My wife would say so too. But he said, “Why don’t you try the piano?” I qualified on the piano playing one hand. But it also taught you real rehabilitation. Now when I got home from the hospital, my mother asked me after I spent about a week at home, I said, “I’m going to Waikiki.” She said, “Oh you’re going shopping.” I said, “No, I’m going swimming.” And she was horrified. The thought that I would expose myself with my injury, in public, to swim. Well in Michigan to swim we would do so in a public lake and you get used to it. I just hope today is the same and we can do the same thing. That taught us how to dance. I don’t know if I should tell you this. Is this a family program? They even taught us how to make love.
Evan Leong: What do you mean?
Daniel Inouye: Okay I’ll tell you. One lesson; one day and the lesson was make certain that your loved one sleeps on your bad side. So it’s human nature not to expose your ugliness to your loved one, right? If you had scars on one side you would want your wife on the other side. That’s human nature. And the instructors say, “If you have your loved one on your good side and you put your arm around her, you better have educated toes.”
Evan Leong: That way we learn at least something new in every interview. (Laughter)
Evan Leong: When you were in the hospital, in your book you mentioned a nurse who was trying to help you with a pack of cigarettes and that became a learning lesson for you. Will you share that with us?
Daniel Inouye: In those days just about every man smoked. We had free cigarettes. That’s how you get addicted. I never smoked before I got into service. And so I’m in a hospital. I’m now conscious and I wanted a cigarette. So I asked the nurse, “May I have a cigarette?” She said, “Just a minute.” She went away. She brought a brand new pack. Put it on my chest and walked away. And I’m thinking to myself, I had to rip it open. I’ve never opened a pack single handedly. How do you do it? So first thing I thought about was just to tear with my mouth and tore off half the cigarettes but I got it out and in my lips and the nurse comes by and says, “Oh you need a light?” So she goes back and picks up a book of matches. You know the folding type? She throws it on my chest. You know I want to curse her. I opened it up. “What am I suppose to do with this?” And I did everything possible and nothing happened so she came by and said, “Oh good you quit smoking. Smoking is not good for you.” And I had to say, “I don’t know how to light it.” So she taught me how to light it one handed. Then she said, “I’m not going to be around here for the rest of your life. You’ll have to learn how to light your own matches, cut your own meat, dress yourself and do everything else.” So from now on you’re going to be learning. I fell in love with her.
Evan Leong: Did you ever feel sorry for yourself when you were there?
Daniel Inouye: No.
Evan Leong: So when did it reach the point when you decided it’s not about you anymore and you wanted to give back and help others?
Daniel Inouye: When I got out of the hospital I figured that I was lucky. You see in the hospital I was in, orthopedic patients, amputees, like Bob Dole, second burned cases, oh they were terrible. No eyelids, no nose, no lips, you know that type. And the third case brain injury. Just sitting there not knowing what was happening. I look at them and I say to myself, “Man you’re lucky.” All you did was loose your arm. These people have lost their character, personality and everything else and the third category, you’re going to be a burden to the family for the rest of your life.
Evan Leong: And that’s when you decided…
Daniel Inouye: That’s when I decided that I’m healthy and I’m lucky. This country has been good to me. I got a pension for the rest of my life and everything else. I’m going to get a free education. Well the least I can do is to reciprocate. So here I am.
Evan Leong: And thank you so much for joining us today on Greater Good TV. For more information or transcript of today’s show, please visit us online at greatergoodtelevision.com. Please join us again for another episode of Greater Good TV.
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