here's another -- how does it stack up against cheney's military background?
In March 1943, 18-year-old Dan Inouye, then a freshman in pre-medical studies at the University of Hawaii and long eager to join the U.S. war effort, enlisted in the U.S. Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the famed "Go for Broke" regiment of soldiers of Japanese ancestry.
Inouye was soon promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and was designated 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.
In the fall of 1944, Inouye's unit was shifted to the French Vosges Mountains and spent two of the bloodiest weeks of the war rescuing a Texas battalion surrounded by German forces. The rescue of the "Lost Battalion" is listed in U.S. Army annals as one of the most significant military battles of the century. Inouye lost 10 pounds, became a platoon leader, and was awarded the Bronze Star and a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant, as he and other Japanese-Americans continued to fight with unmatched courage that would eventually result with the 442nd being the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service.
Back in Italy as the war was drawing to a close, Inouye displayed "extraordinary heroism" on April 21, 1945, near San Terenzo as he led his platoon through "formidable resistance" to capture a key ridge. His Medal of Honor Citation states in part: "With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper's bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions."
After losing his right arm, Dan Inouye spent 20 months in an Army hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. On May 27, 1947, he was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain, and returned home with a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest award for military valor, along with a Bronze Star, Purple Heart with cluster, and 12 other medals and citations.
His Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, and that medal was presented to him by the President of the United States on June 21, 2000. |
