|
Although none fought harder than Inouye, the entire 442nd fought long and hard, and with great distinction. There was room for 4500 men in the Regiment, but more than 12,000 served due to the high turn-over from death and injury in combat. Many were decorated but the highest honor was denied them until June 2000, when President Clinton, acting on the Army's belated recommendation, upgraded 21 Distinguished Service Crosses awarded to Asian-Americans in WW II to Medals of Honor. Inouye went on to earn degrees in economics and government from the University of Hawaii, as well as a degree from George Washington University Law School. In 1959 he became the first US congressman from our newest state, and in 1962, he was elected to the US Senate where he continues to serve as one of its most senior and distinguished members. I first became aware of Daniel Inouye in 1974, not as a warrior of uncommon valor, but as the softest spoken member of the Senate Committee patiently and inexorably untangling the knotty yarn of shame called Watergate. I knew that he had lost an arm in the war, but that was the extent of my knowledge.  In 2000 Bill Clinton presented Daniel Inouye with the medal of honor. In 2003, I read an advance copy of a book written by Larry Smith, a recently retired managing editor of Parade Magazine, and a tenacious defender in the weekly basketball game which formed the basis of our friendship. The book, Beyond Glory, Medal of Honor heroes in their own words, chronicled the lives of 23 of the approximately 125 living recipients of the Medal of Honor. I was stunned and moved by each tale of fortitude, courage and, most especially, humility. Believing the material to be intensely dramatic, I wrote a play based on the book; a solo piece in which I portray eight of the recipients from WW II, Korea and Vietnam. Although every individual in the book has a story more than worthy of dramatization, I chose the cross-section of services, wars and ethnicities that I felt would best serve my dramatic purpose. Inouye was one of the men I chose to portray. The play, Beyond Glory, received its world premiere in 2004 at the Theatre at the Women in Military Service Memorial which is situated, appropriately, at the gates of Arlington National Cemetery, where so many of our nation's best are buried. That particular venue had never been used for theater and is not on the radar of Washington theatre-goers. Our run began quite inauspiciously; it is a 200 seat theater and there were times when I performed for six people. I took it as an exercise in humility. However, after a glowing review in the Washington Post, the people began to come, and what was slated to be a 4-week engagement turned into a ten-week run. During that time the play caught the attention of the National Endowment for the Arts, and a mutually fruitful partnership began. Beyond Glory became part of Operation Homecoming, the NEA's initiative to nurture, gather, and publish the writings of our troops in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2005 a unique collaboration between the NEA and the Department of Defense made it possible for Beyond Glory to tour US military installations all over the world. It was a remarkable and unforgettable experience that took me from Guam to Guantanemo, from the DMZ in Korea to the Dome in Bharain. It was during this time that I was invited by Senators Bill Frist and Harry Reid, respective majority and minority leaders of the Senate, to perform Beyond Glory at the US Senate to honor Senator Daniel Inouye. I flew into Washington from the Persian Gulf, having given a week of performances aboard the nuclear carrier, USS Carl Vinson, and the destroyer, USS Mustin. I was weary but willing,and not a little nervous at the prospect of performing the role of Daniel Inouye in front of Daniel Inouye.
|
Newswire 
