Hawaii Sen. S. Matsunaga; Led Fight for Reparations

Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga, a one-time stevedore who fought first for his country in World War II , next for statehood for his beloved Hawaii and lastly for reparations for fellow Japanese-Americans interned in American camps during the war, died Sunday in Toronto.

A spokesman for the twice-wounded veteran of the fabled “Go for Broke” 442nd Army Regimental Combat Team of Japanese-Americans--the most decorated combat unit in U.S. history--said the three-term Senate Democrat died in a Toronto hospital.

Ed Greaney said in a statement issued from Washington that Matsunaga, 73, died of cancer at Toronto General Hospital after being admitted to an oncology clinic last week for treatment of prostate cancer.

Matsunaga had said in January that he was battling the cancer that eventually spread to the bone.

With him when he died were his wife, Helene, and two of his five children.

Matsunaga had been in failing health since a 1984 heart attack, an attack of ulcers in 1987 and flu and back problems in 1988.

Matsunaga was often in the shadow of Hawaii’s better-known senator, fellow Democrat Daniel K. Inouye, another member of the so-called “Class of 54,” which developed an ongoing power base that led to statehood for the territory in 1959.

Yet despite his casual style and outgoing manner he could be a consummate politician when it involved legislation close to his heart.

Most recently, in 1988, he was credited with engineering passage of a $1.25-billion law that is to pay $20,000 to each surviving Japanese-American interned in a U.S. prison camp during World War II.

Matsunaga had been awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart with cluster after he was wounded twice in combat with the 442nd, a regiment that became famous during the war for its exploits in Europe and again when it was the subject of a 1951 film.

But in fighting for the internment law he not only had to overcome objections from cost-conscious congressmen but from some fellow veterans who continued to harbor wartime grudges.

During one debate on the bill, tears forced Matsunaga to quit speaking while telling of an elderly internee killed by a guard as he went to pick up a softball.

“I myself become overly emotional when I think about it even to this day,” he said after regaining his composure.

Matsunaga also lobbied for 22 years before persuading Congress in 1984 to establish a U.S. Peace Institute. “Peacemaking is as much an art to be learned as war,” was his persistent argument.

Matsunaga supported a joint U.S.-Soviet exploration of Mars, sponsored a plan for an International Space Year in 1992 and worked to make his state a center for space exploration.

Matsunaga was first elected to the House in 1962 and served six terms. He was elected to the Senate in 1976 and reelected in 1982 and 1988.

At his death he was the second-ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee and chairman of its subcommittee on taxation and debt management.

Before his years in Washington, Matsunaga was a member of Hawaii’s territorial House from 1954 to 1959.

He was born on Kauai, the son of immigrants from Japan. He worked as a stevedore and warehouseman while going to high school and graduated with honors from the University of Hawaii and Harvard Law School.

He taught school briefly before joining the 100th Infantry Battalion, which later became part of the 442nd.

Democratic Hawaii Gov. John Waihee asked that the body lie in state Wednesday in the state Capitol. Burial will be at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl in Honolulu.

Waihee said of Matsunaga: “He will be remembered most for his vision of peace and his faith in the human heart. In his memory we will carry on his quest. In his spirit we will strive for the highest of principles and the brightest of worlds.”

Rep. Daniel K. Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat elected to the House in 1976, is considered the leading choice to be appointed to Matsunaga’s post, pending a special election in November.