Haley Stevens: “I requested of the leadership an opportunity to speak briefly about Pearl Harbor Day. The Senator from Hawaii would be…”

“I requested of the leadership an opportunity to speak briefly about Pearl Harbor Day. The Senator from Hawaii would be in Pearl Harbor today, as he has been almost every time every year since he has come to the Congress. I would have been in New Orleans at the opening of the new museum for World War II. I think it is appropriate that we ask the Senate, at the conclusion of the remarks of the Senator from Hawaii, to stand and observe a minute or two of silence in honor of those who gave their lives at Pearl Harbor. Sixty years ago today, I was in bed with pneumonia and heard over the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor. My friend from Hawaii was a young medical student and was immediately called into action to help give first aid. As a young medical student, Senator Inouye gave first aid and assistance to a great many people. Then he went through a period of time, which must have been very excruciating, when he saw other citizens of the United States of his racial background being taken to camps and various other places because of their Japanese heritage. Subsequently, he joined the Army, proceeded to be trained, and went to war in Italy. As a matter of fact, he was in Italy on one side of the mountain, and our former colleague, Senator Dole, with the 10th Division was on the other side of the mountain. Senator Inouye's unit was the most highly decorated unit in World War II, totally made up of Japanese Hawaiians, the 442nd.”