Brush with Famous - Daniel Inouye

Senator Daniel Inouye
(Wikipedia photo)

Daniel Inouye was chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee when I met him while he joined Senator Tom Daschle to visit the Rosebud Indian Reservation.

The two Senators were in a rush, so I was told to meet them at the airport for the interview.  

Their ride was a small Cessna.  The airport was a two hour drive from my office.  The story was to air during the evening news and we finished the interview around 4:30.

As a reporter - photographer I sometimes started writing the story on the drive back balancing my reporter's notebook on my knee.  On this occasion I was glad to be on a quiet road because I needed to go faster than the speed limit.  

It worked.  I was back in the bureau and finished the story in time for the 6 o'clock news.

Senator Inouye grew up in Hawaii.  He served in World War II and was elected to Congress in 1958.  I don't remember the interview, but it was one of the highlight's of my career as a journalist. 

I was aware the Senator was a veteran of World War II, but I didn't know the his story.  He was seriously wounded and nearly killed during the Assault on Colle Musatello in Liguria, Italy which you can read here.   

Inouye recovered from his injuries at the Percy Jones Hospital with two soldiers who later joined him serving in the United States Senate, Bob Dole and Philip Hart.  In 2003, the hospital was renamed in honor of the three war veterans.