Daniel Inouye was a 17-year-old high school student in Honolulu when his country, the United States, was attacked by the Japan, the country of his ancestors. Initially denied the right to serve as a so-called "enemy alien," he fought successfully for the right to wear his country's uniform and distinguished himself as an infantry officer in France and Italy. In the last days of the war in Europe, he lost his right arm in combat. After the war, Daniel Inouye became a leader in the movement for Hawaiian statehood, and was chosen to serve as his state's first voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 1962, he has served in the United States Senate, an outspoken champion of equal rights for all Americans. Forty-five years after the end of World War II, he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism on the field of battle. Today Daniel Inouye is the longest-serving member of the United States Senate. As President Pro Tempore of the Senate, he is third in line of succession to the presidency, the highest position in government ever attained by an Asian American.
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