LIHU‘E — Throughout his life, Sen. Daniel Inouye touched many lives, whether it was for a fleeting moment or a deep, meaningful encounter. At a memorial service held at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall Friday, several people reminisced about
LIHU‘E — Throughout his life, Sen. Daniel Inouye touched many lives, whether it was for a fleeting moment or a deep, meaningful encounter.
At a memorial service held at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall Friday, several people reminisced about the impact the senator had in their lives.
“This is my island,” Sen. Inouye said in a video about his Kaua‘i roots, shown prior to the memorial service. “This is where my life began.”
While state Senate Vice President Ron Kouchi recalled meeting Inouye in 1974, when Kouchi was a junior in high school, what he will remember the senator for even more was when Inouye hired Kouchi’s son as an intern.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Kouchi said. “The chance for my son to go was the best gift.”
Kouchi also recalled a moment when the usually private Inouye visited Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School and told the students about finding love again with his wife, Irene Hirano Inouye.
One man who knew Inouye for decades was Turk Tokita, who recalled seeing Inouye the first time as they were fighting on the front lines during World War II as their companies were attached in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in the Army.
Tokita was dressed in his uniform and stood with Inouye’s remains as people entered the auditorium.
“We went to war together,” said Tsuka Murakami, another member of the 442nd RCT, adding, “Anytime you need, he was there.”
The Pacific Missile Research Facility was often in need and Inouye was there for the staff.
“Dan is the one who said, ‘Let’s prove this concept,’” said Stu Burley of the senator’s efforts to be the first place to launch micro-satellites, which will come to fruition September 2014 with the help of NASA and the University of Hawai‘i. Tommy Oi will most remember Inouye for bringing lots of federal funding to Kaua‘i.
“In the past few years, he found ways to get people back to work,” Oi said.
Sometimes though, Inouye’s own work would wait as he was meeting with constituents, like the time when Tiffany Tanaka-Pesamino went to his office to visit.
Inouye had a limited time to visit as he was needed for a vote on the floor of the Senate, Tanaka-Pesamino said, but twice told his aide to give them another minute to visit.
“That really impressed us,” she said. “He made the time to talk with us.”
While Kaua‘i Rep. Dee Morikawa never spent much time with the senator, she said her son is a very successful culinary student at Kaua‘i Community College because of funding that Inouye secured for the program.
“He reached the youth,” she said.
It was that sincere, true desire to help others that Kaua‘i Councilmember Mel Rapozo will most remember, along with Inouye’s intelligence, moral character, commitment to do the right thing and his great sense of humor.
“He will be missed,” Rapozo said. “He was sincere and had no agendas.”
Chipper Wichman, executive director of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, recalled meeting the senator for the first time in 2004 at Aloha ‘Ike.
“Without hesitation, he said the charter for the NTBG was the first piece of legislation he signed as a junior senator,” Wichman said. “You could hear the pride in his voice in creating us.”
Hau’oli Wichman of the NTBG added that when the senator’s grandparents moved to Kaua‘i from Japan, they farmed the area where McBryde Garden is today.
In the end though, people were often unsure of what Inouye’s legacy might truly be in Hawai‘i.
Kouchi said for a man who never bragged about anything, Inouye often bragged about one love above all others in his life.
“He bragged about (his granddaughter) Maggie,” Kouchi said.
“His greatest legacy is his granddaughter.”
