Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii dies at 88

Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images file

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, died Monday. The most senior member of the U.S. Senate, he was 88.

By NBC News staff

Daniel Inouye, the most senior senator in the U.S. Senate, has died of respiratory complications. He was 88.

Inouye, a Democrat from Hawaii, was hospitalized a week and a half ago at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he said he was working with doctors to regulate his oxygen intake.

He is survived by his wife, Irene Hirano, and son, Daniel "Kenny" Inouye. Kenny is his son with Margaret Shinobu Awamura, who died in 2006.

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Around the Capitol, Inouye had been seen with a portable oxygen supply.

Inouye had served in the Senate for 49 years, since 1963. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving member of the Senate; the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia served for 51 years.

He was also hospitalized on Nov. 15 after falling and cutting the back of his head. A statement released by his office spoke to the senator?s apparent dislike of being hospitalized: ?The U.S. Army Captain and World War II combat veteran wanted to put a bandage on and come to work but his family insisted he get it checked out.?

He was hospitalized one day before Pearl Harbor Day. Although in the hospital, he honored the day as he does every year, this time through a press release remembering his time as a Japanese-American teenager in Hawaii. He wrote:

In 1941, the date December 7th was a day that evoked anger, fierce patriotism and dangerous racism. Soon after that day, I suddenly found myself, pursuant to a decision by the government and along with thousands of Japanese Americans declared 4C, enemy aliens. It was a difficult time. I was 17.

Source: http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/17/15975881-sen-daniel-inouye-of-hawaii-dies-at-88?lite

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