My father was not a man of eloquence but he said, ‘Whatever you do, do not dishonour the family, and do not dishonour the country.’ To have done any less than we did in battle would have dishonoured our families and our country.
–Daniel K. Inouye , Hawaii, March 24, 1993
At Camp Shelby, Mississippi, on February 1, 1943, the 42nd Regimental Combat Team was activated. The team was the first of its kind, made up of only Japanese Americans.
As soon as Inouye heard about the enlistment ban dropping, he quit his medical schooling and enlisted in the war. He volunteered to join the 442nd in an effort to prove that Japanese Americans could be just as patriotic as any other American. |
Within his first year in the 442nd, Inouye was promoted to sergeant. And by his discharge, he was promoted to captain.
The 442nd continued to prove themselves thought their lifespan while leaded by Inouye. Leading a flanking attack on a heavily-defended ridge near San Terenzo in Tuscany, Italy, Inouye lost his arm. He continued to fight that day until he blood loss was too much. Before being carried away he said to the battalion, “Nobody called off the war.” |