 R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Bar Shake
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OP
Bar Shake
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"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 dogged 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 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".[10] 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. As 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 off-hand 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!"
Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, tambiƩn
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Learned Hand
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Learned Hand
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No offense to anyone but sounds like He out did any John Wayne scene I've ever seen.
mike
2006 neon blue speedmaster
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Jul 2010
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Adjunct
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Adjunct
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I would also like to add is that Inouye was a Nissei (second generation Japanese-American) and his family/generation were brought to the internment camps because of their lineage. The Nissei, instead of crying foul of their treatment, went into the army and were mainly assigned to the 442 Infantry Regiment of the US Army and were allowed only to be assigned to Europe. The 442nd is considered to be the most decorated infantry regiment in the history of the United States Army. Pretty darn impressive coming from a group of Nissei's like Mr. Inouye who's country doubted their loyalty to their country even though they were born Americans. Daniel Inouye was the real deal hero.
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2 |
Truly a great American soldier and statesman has passed.
(...RIP Senator Inouye)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Feb 2005
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Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
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Yep, Matt. And all very well depicted in one of my favorite WWII movies..."Go For Broke"(1951). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYl2hK_v7wg(...btw, growing up in Gardena CA, at the time in the 1960s when many Japanese-Americans lived there, a few of my classmates' fathers were members of the 442nd)
Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: May 2007
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Saddle Sore
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Saddle Sore
Joined: May 2007
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WOW ! I just read all that on Wikki. True heroism under fire. Just awestruck.
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Jul 2010
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Adjunct
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Adjunct
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Quote:
Yep, Matt. And all very well depicted in one of my favorite WWII movies..."Go For Broke"(1951).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYl2hK_v7wg
(...btw, growing up in Gardena CA, at the time in the 1960s when many Japanese-Americans lived there, a few of my classmates' fathers were members of the 442nd)
It is my opinion that the whole Nissei/442 dynamic is something that is truly American at its very core and I plan on taking great time in teaching this to my two boys when the time comes that they are old enough to grasp. The Nissei were men among men. A salute to life of the honorable Inouye 
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 20,096 Likes: 2
Fe Butt
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Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2005
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Quote:
The Nissei were men among men.
Yep, truly a proud component of "The Greatest Generation", alright!
Oh, and their kids, the Sansei, who as I mentioned made up a few of my high school friends back then, tended to be a very honorable and studious sort, also. In FACT, because our school would rank and place students in classes by their grade-point averages, putting the highly scholastically motivated ones in the toughest classes, I would invariably come to know the very first day of the school year JUST how much freakin' homework I'd have to do for each class just by how many of my "Buddahead" friends were in that class, and I knew ESPECIALLY if Richard Matsuoka OR if Marilyn Koriyama were sittin' in it, I was gonna have homework comin' outta my ass to do for THAT particular class!!! 
(...and dude, I was only a freakin' B-average student!!!) 

Yep! Just like a good Single Malt Scotch, you might call me "an acquired taste" TOO.(among the many OTHER things you may care to call me, of course)
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: May 2007
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Worn Saddle
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Worn Saddle
Joined: May 2007
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Quote:
Truly a great American soldier and statesman has passed.
(...RIP Senator Inouye)
Yes, he truly earned that CMH and then continued to live a life of service to the nation he loved.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 99
Member
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Member
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he did a speech at the post where i work last october. was very impressed by him
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Aug 2009
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Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Aug 2009
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Sounds like a man who deserved respect
May he in rest in peace
Too old to die young, too ugly to leave a good looking corpse
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 Re: R.I.P. Daniel Inouye
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Joined: Feb 2011
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Oil Expert
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Oil Expert
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Posts: 2,146 |
To call him a 'giant' doesn't even begin to give the measure of the man.
If we had had 100 of him in the Senate the US would be a far greater place today.
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