We salute the USS Daniel Inouye for flying its badass battle flag on the way into port
A fitting tribute to a legendary soldier and lawmaker.
BY JARED KELLER | PUBLISHED OCT 25, 2022 12:34 PM
The Navy warship USS Daniel Inouye marked its first official stop at the Hawaiian island of Kailua-Kona last week, and it did so in style: with the ship’s trademark ‘Go For Broke’ battle flag flying in the wind.
Named for Army veteran and late former Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hi), the first Japanese-American elected to Congress and Medal of Honor recipient for his courageous actions during World War II, the Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class destroyer first unveiled its distinctive battle flag during its commissioning in December 2021.
The flag’s core features include a hand grasping a torch and the motto ‘Go For Broke,’ both borrowed from the insignia and motto of the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team with which Inouye served, an infantry unit comprised primarily of second-generation Japanese-Americans during a time when anti-Japanese racism was prevalent and internment was a matter of national policy.
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“The motto of the unit was ‘Go For Broke,’ a phrase that meant putting everything on the line in an effort to win big,” according to the National World War II museum. “Just as other minority groups, Japanese Americans faced two wars during World War II—war against the Axis powers and war against racism back home—making ‘Go For Broke’ an appropriate motto.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/navy-destroyer-uss-daniel-inouye-battle-flag/
