Memorial service for Sen. Inouye held in Hawaii

8:57 PM, Dec 23, 2012   |    comments
Credit: Getty Images
  • Share
  • Email
  • Print
  • - A A A +

HONOLULU - A Navy commander says the late Sen. Daniel Inouye was "an irreplaceable American."

More than 1,000 people attended a memorial Sunday for Inouye at Honolulu's National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Dignitaries included President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Hawaii's congressional delegation and a number of other senators and cabinet secretaries.

A 19-gun cannon salute was fired as Inouye's coffin arrived at the cemetery. The service also featured a flyover by F-22 military jets and the playing of "Taps" by Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana.

His final resting place is also where more than 400 members of the storied Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team - of which Inouye was a part - are buried.

Inouye was the first Japanese-American elected to both houses of Congress and the second-longest serving senator in U.S. history, at 50 years. He was 88.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)