Inouye featured in postal tribute to all Medal of Honor recipients

The late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye will receive another tribute on Veterans Day — this time for his service with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.

On Monday, the U.S. Postal Service will introduce a new format, the prestige folio: 20 stamps of the Medal of Honor in a four-page design, with the first page highlighting historic photographs of the last 12 living recipients of the Medal of Honor. The two center pages list the names of all 464 medal recipients.

The Postal Service in its announcement last week noted that Inouye and Vernon McGarity died before the Medal of Honor stamps could be issued.

"Their photographs are still included, as they were among the last representatives of a remarkable group," the postal service said in a statement.

The 12 photographs surround two forever stamps. One stamp features a photograph of the Navy version of the Medal of Honor; the other stamp features a photograph of the Army version.

Along with the 464 names, the two center pages includes a short piece of text and a key to the names of the recipients pictured in the cover photos. The remaining 18 stamps are found on the back page.

Art director Antonio Alcala designed the stamps and the new format, working with photographs of the medals by Richard Frasier.

Duke Gonzales, Postal Service spokesman, said the Medal of Honor stamps will not be sold as individual 46 cent forever stamps, but only available as part of the special folio. The stamps will go on sale Tuesday for $9.20 for a booklet of 20 at all post offices.

On April 21, 1945, Inouye, as an Army second lieutenant in E Company, 2nd Battalion, led an assault on a heavily defended ridge known as Colle Musatello, near the town of San Terenzo in Italy.

In attacking a fortified ridge guarding an important road juncture in the Po Valley, Inouye directed his platoon through a hail of gunfire, captured an artillery and mortar observation post, and brought his men to within 40 yards of the main enemy force.

The Germans, entrenched in bunkers and rock formations, resisted, halting the advance with fire from two machine guns over terrain without cover.

Inouye crawled up a treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying it. He stood up and took out a second machine-gun nest with a burst from his submachine gun.

Although wounded in the stomach by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to rake other positions until his right arm was shattered by an exploding German rifle grenade. He pried a grenade he was about to throw from his right hand, and tossed it with his left hand.

He refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until resistance was broken. In the attack, 25 Germans were killed and eight others captured.

Inouye was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1947 Inouye was discharged with the rank of captain.

The Distinguished Service Crosses awarded to Inouye and 21 other Asian-Americans in World War II were later upgraded under a law authored by Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka. Fifteen medals were awarded posthumously, but Inouye and the other survivors were on hand to receive their Medals of Honor from President Bill Clinton at the White House in 2000.

Inouye died Dec. 17 at age 88 after serving in the U.S. Senate since 1963.

Inouye has received many tributes since his death.

Just last week, Matson Inc. announced that one of its new 850-foot "Aloha Class" container ships will bear Inouye’s name and be launched within five years.

At the University of Hawaii there are plans to name four buildings or programs after Inouye: the Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at UH-Hilo; Daniel K. Inouye Allied Health Center at UH-Maui College; and the Daniel K. Inouye Electronics Technology Building at Kauai Community College.

In additional, Inouye’s congressional papers will be stored at a new $27.5 million Inouye library that will be built at the UH-Manoa campus.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration earlier this year said its regional headquarters on Ford Island will be named after the Hawaii senator. The Pacific Regional Center will house NOAA offices for the weather service, tsunami warning center, fisheries, sanctuaries, marine operations and enforcement.

In June the Navy said an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer — the USS Daniel Inouye — will be sailing by mid-2018.

And the Kilauea Point Lighthouse on Kauai was renamed the Daniel K. Inouye Kilauea Point Lighthouse in July.