Spark Matsunaga

Spark Masayuki Matsunaga (October 8, 1916Template:Spaced ndashApril 15, 1990) was an American politician and attorney who served as United States Senator for Hawaii from 1977 until his death in 1990. Matsunaga also represented Hawaii in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the Hawaii territorial house of representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, Matsunaga introduced legislation that led to the creation of the United States Institute of Peace and to reparations to Japanese-American World War II detainees.

Early life

Born Masayuki Matsunaga on October 8, 1916, the Territory of Hawaii island of [[KauaTemplate:Okinai]], Spark Matsunaga was Japanese-American.<ref name=auto>Template:Cite news</ref> His parents had emigrated to the United States from Japan.<ref name=auto1>Template:Cite news</ref> When he was eight, he was nicknamed Sparky after Spark Plug, a character in the comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.<ref name="100thbatt">Template:Cite web</ref> He received a bachelor's degree with honors in education from the University of Hawaiʻi in 1941.<ref name=auto1/>

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, the AJA (Americans of Japanese ancestry) soldiers in the Hawaii National Guard were reorganized into a new Army unit named the Hawaiian Provisional Infantry Battalion. On June 5, 1942, six months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, a U.S. Army transport ship Maui, quietly departed Honolulu Harbor with the 1,432 men of the unit. On June 12, 1942, just before the Battalion arrived in Oakland, California, the unit learned that it had been redesignated the 100th Infantry Battalion (Separate), meaning they were a separate unit and not part of any regiment or military unit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The men adopted "Remember Pearl Harbor" as their unit's motto. The training record of the 100th Infantry Battalion (Sep) at Camp McCoy, plus the service of the Varsity Victory Volunteers<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in Hawaiʻi, led the War Department to authorize the formation of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) on February 1, 1943.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Matsunaga was twice wounded in battle in Italy during World War II.<ref name=auto/> He served with the renowned 442nd Regimental Combat Team and was released from the Army as a captain.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Matsunaga graduated from Harvard Law School in 1951.<ref name=auto1/>

Political career

Matsunaga as a U.S. Representative in 1972.

Matsunaga served as a prosecutor and was a member of the Hawaii territorial House of Representatives.<ref name=auto/>

After Daniel Inouye was elected to the Senate, Matsunaga succeeded him as the state's sole member of the House of Representatives. After Hawaii was split into districts for the 1970 elections, Matsunaga was elected for Template:Ushr, comprising Honolulu's inner ring, and held that seat until 1976. That year, with Hiram Fong retiring, Matsunaga defeated Hawaii's other House representative, Patsy Mink, for the Democratic Party nomination for Senator. Matsunaga then defeated former Republican governor William Quinn in the general election and went on to serve in the United States Senate from 1977 until his death in 1990.<ref name=":0" />

In 1984, following many years of effort from Matsunaga, Congress passed a bill creating the U.S. Institute for Peace.<ref name=auto/><ref name=auto1/>

For 22 years, Matsunaga presented legislation in Congress for the creation of the position of United States Poet Laureate. In 1985, a bill was finally passed authorizing the position of Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.<ref>McGuire, William (1988). Poetry's Catbird Seat: The Consultantship in Poetry in the English language at the Library of Congress, 1937-1987 (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). Template:ISBN.</ref>

Matsunaga was instrumental in the passage of a redress bill for people of Japanese descent who were detained in the United States during World War II. The $1.25 billion bill provided $20,000 to each detainee and also apologized to the detainees.<ref name=auto/><ref name=auto1/>

To the Supreme Court, Matsunaga voted to confirm Sandra Day O'Connor,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Antonin Scalia,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Anthony Kennedy,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> all of whom were confirmed unanimously by the senate. He voted against the nomination of William Rehnquist to be Chief Justice,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as the nomination of Robert Bork to be associate justice, the latter of which was rejected in a 58–42 vote.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1989, Matsunaga voted against President George H.W Bush's nomination of John Tower to be Secretary of Defense. Tower faced accusations of alcohol abuse and womanizing, and would ultimately be rejected by the Senate in a 53–47 vote.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Matsunaga was known for his sense of humor. One famous incident involved Matsunaga and then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig at a White House reception for Japanese Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki in 1981. Haig reportedly mistook Matsunaga for a member of the Japanese delegation and asked if he spoke English. Matsunaga replied, "Yes, Mr. Secretary, I do — and I had the honor of voting for your confirmation the other day."<ref>Sparky: Warrior, Peacemaker, Poet, Patriot. A Portrait of Senator Spark M. Matsunaga, by Richard Halloran. Honolulu: Matsunaga Charitable Foundation, 2002, 259 pages, paper</ref>

Personal life and death

Matsunaga was married to the former Helene Hatsumi Tokunaga and had three daughters and two sons.<ref name=auto/>

Matsunaga had prostate cancer at the end of his life; by January 1990, he announced that the cancer had spread to his bones. He later went to Toronto General Hospital for treatment, and died there on April 15, 1990, at the age of 73.<ref name=auto1 /> His flag-draped casket lay in state in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Honolulu.

Legacy

$10,000 Series I US Savings Bond featuring Spark Matsunaga

In 1997, Matsunaga's widow donated his papers to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. There were approximately 1200 boxes of material including documents, photographs, videos, and memorabilia from his 28 years in Congress. Also in the papers are professional and personal materials from his pre-Congressional life; especially noteworthy are documents, letters, photographs, and memorabilia from his Army service in the 100th Infantry Battalion.<ref>The Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga Papers University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library</ref>

A bronze statue honoring him is in the Spark M. Matsunaga International Children's Garden For Peace at the Storybook Theatre of Hawaii in his hometown of Hanapepe, KauaTemplate:Okinai.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 1999, Matsunaga's portrait appears on US Series I Bonds in the $10,000 denomination.<ref name=":0" /> There is also an elementary school in Germantown, Maryland<ref name=":0" /> and a VA Medical Center in Honolulu named after him.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• List of Asian Americans and Pacific Islands Americans in the United States Congress
• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)

External links

• Template:Cite web
• Spark M. Matsunaga biography United States Institute of Peace.
• Spark M. Matsunaga's published biography Sparky: Warrior, Peacemaker, Poet, Patriot by Richard Halloran. Template:ISBN.
• Template:Find a Grave
• Template:C-SPAN
• Biography on U.S. Congress House websiteTemplate:S-start

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