Tony Thurmond: “However, few displayed the valor, leadership, and selflessness as our colleague Daniel K. Inouye and it is with much…”

“However, few displayed the valor, leadership, and selflessness as our colleague Daniel K. Inouye and it is with much admiration that I congratulate him on what this afternoon will be a deserving receipt of the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor is the highest medal awarded by the United States and is reserved for those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, at the risk of their own life, to perform a deed of personal bravery or self-sacrifice. We have recently reached a point in U.S. history which has left only a handful of Americans who can personally recount the events that took place during World War II and even fewer who fought in this effort to free Europe from the plague of Nazis. Though history books attempt to give younger generations insight into the valiant deeds and the countless deaths which occurred during the Second World War, no words can convey the emotional tragedies and triumphs felt by the men and women who participated in this campaign.”