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Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye dies in office of old age
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the nation's longest-serving senator and a decorated World War II combat veteran, died Monday at 88.
He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in WWII. We thank you, sir, for your bravery and your service.
Inouye's office said the senator died of "respiratory complications" on Monday evening. His last word, according to a statement released by his staff, was "Aloha." The long-time senator had been hospitalized since early December because of respiratory problems.

Inouye had served in the Senate since 1963 and represented Hawaii since 1954, serving as the Aloha State's first congressman beginning in 1959. He served as the Senate pro tempore -- the designation for the chamber's longest-serving Senator -- and the person third in line to the presidency. He also chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee at the time of his death.

As The Post's Jason Horowitz wrote in a 2010 profile of Inouye: "More than any other statesman in the history of these volcanic islands -- more than Kamehameha the Great, who united them into a kingdom in 1810, or Gov. John Burns, who led the political revolution that established Democratic Party rule here in 1954 -- Inouye, 86, has ruled over Hawaii."
Posted by: Fred 2012-12-18
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=358274