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Inouye recalls medics
acted with courage

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By Pat Omandam
Star-Bulletin

Among the bravest men in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team were the field medics who risked their lives to save others, said U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Inouye -- one of five Hawaii residents recently awarded the Medal of Honor and honored by the state Senate yesterday -- said that with no guns and no special protective gear, medics would brave enemy fire to tend to the wounded during combat in World War II.

"Whenever a person got wounded, the first call he made was 'medic,' " Inouye said. "I hate to disappoint others, but they never called for their sweethearts or wives, they called for 'medic,' and the medic was the first to respond."

Inouye said he's glad at least one of the 22 new Medal of Honor recipients, all of whom were Asian and Pacific Island Americans, was a medic.

The other medal honorees from Hawaii were Barney Hajiro, Yukio Okutsu, Yeiki Kobashigawa and Shizuya Hayashi.

A three-day tribute to the men begins Friday in Honolulu.