The U.S. Postal Service is currently considering a commemorative postage stamp proposal that would honor the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye. The Stamp Our Story Committee wrote a letter inquiring about the proposal, and was told that it is now officially under consideration, which is the final step prior to being selected for issuance.
This is a critical time to show your support for the stamp to the USPS. Please write brief letters of support for Senator Inouye stamp, and ask your lawmakers to do the same.
Mail letters of support to:
US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy
Attention: Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300
Washington, DC 20260-3501.
Senator Inouye was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on September 7, 1924, to Japanese immigrant parents. He rose to the highest levels of U.S. government during his lifetime. As a high school senior, he witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack on Sunday, December 7, 1941, while getting ready to go to church. As soon as he was able after graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. He would serve with utmost valor during World War II in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Following war’s end, he studied law. When Hawaii gained statehood in 1959, he became its first member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was later elected to the U.S. Senate in 1962, where he would serve until he passed away on December 17, 2012. He never lost an election in the 58 years that he was an elected official. He was the first Japanese American to serve in the House, and the first in the Senate as well. He became the most senior senator during his tenure, and was the president pro tempore of the Senate, making him third in the presidential line of succession after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.
Senator Inouye was an inspiration to the Stamp Our Story Committee during the campaign for the Go For Broke Soldiers Stamp. He was the first lawmaker that the campaign founders wrote a letter to, seeking support for a stamp to honor the Nisei Soldiers. He responded by encouraging them to continue to campaign for the stamp. The Go For Broke Soldiers Stamp became a reality in June 2021.