Setting The Record Straight

Today I noticed as I was going through Facebook that there was a post, critical of President Obama' funeral attending practices circulating around. Of course these days, that in itself is nothing unusual. One of the reasons it criticized Obama was  because he had attended the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye and that this was bad because the Senator was a Democrat and worse...A Liberal. Plus the President had the gall to actually shed tears over the death of this Liberal Monster, truly a super bad person!

This kind of stuff makes me sick because it is blatantly ignoring the truth about this great American and others but it distorts history as well. In our country today we must stop judging people solely because of their political leanings. In doing so, more often then not we let our emotional hysteria distort and even obscure the TRUTH. Certainly this is true in this particular instance.

Senator Inouye served his country honorably as a US Senator from Hawaii for nearly 50 years. Yes he was a Democrat but did you know that as a young man he won the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Bronze Star and other decorations for Valor in WWII as a Captain in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The 442nd RCT is one of the most highly decorated units in US Army HISTORY! One of this man's closest life-long friends was fellow Combat Veteran and US Senator Bob Dole...a Republican who served honorably and even ran for President.

The Unit itself is truly remarkable as were many of the brave young men who filled it's ranks. Like Sen. Inouye, members were 2nd generation Americans of Japanese decent...a group that was extremely unpopular following in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Many had family members who were detained in relocation camps, often for the duration of the war. Given the opportunity to enlist, the future Senator volunteered into the 442nd and saw service in the European Theater until he was seriously wounded late in the war. The Unit was not initially trusted to fight the Japanese for fear they might find it difficult to kill members of their own race. In truth more loyal and dedicated men would be hard to find ANYWHERE. These were some real BAD-ASS Soldiers, as good as we had in combat in any Theater...European or Pacific.

Young Inyouye and his unit first saw action in Italy and then later was transferred to The Vosges Mountain region of Southern France where in April of 1945 he  was terribly wounded in action and was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in that fight. His wounds resulted in the amputation of his right arm. So he served the rest of his life as a disabled Veteran as well.

My point in stating all this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Inouye) is to remind us all that we cannot define a person because of the political party they belong to. It certainly does not define the type of human being they are and certainly does NOT in this man's case. He happens to be someone that I have always admired for his character and determination....RIP Captain Inouye.