. ~ .. ~ e vsstand: 25 ac C . CltlZCll (75c POSIpClJd) Established 1929 • Notional Publication of the Japanese American Citizens League # 2,571 I Vol. 110, No. 15 1 ISSN: 0030-8579 941 East 3rd St. Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213) 626-6936 Frida. A ril20, 1990 His Oft-Told Anecdotes 1916 - 1990: Spark's Sparks Spark-1976 M tsunaga Win Not Be ForgoHen There have been many occasion In the , ummer of 1976 when Pre 1- where enator Spark Matsunaga was dent Caner VI ited Japan and Korea , ., • invited to addre a JACL in tallation, Matsunaga and ru wife were the only enator park M. Ma unaga of old, he was nicknamed park)' by a ' let) He W' al 0 a ave in f ren. i convention or perhaps a ,mall group legislative repre entatlve on the en­ SHawaii. a poet, eli tingui hed Filipino playmate after a artoon strip and theatre am. an undero...raduate. chara terofthe tim . Thl nam . whi h 1.111. over a cup ot coffee. tourage The pre idem had asked tatesman and mele advocate of ju - • lat unaga a tlvel) pposed r; re­ cattered throughout thi i~~ue arc whether he 'poke Japanese or nO! and tlce for Japanese American ,died April ubsequentl) became hortened to m ted club on campu . He join done membe~hlp some of the anecdote with v" hich he when Mat unaga re ponded in the affir­ IS in Toromo General Ho pital. He was park. tuck to hun through the years u h lub. pef'luaded the loosened up his audience to the serious mative, the pre idem Je tingly 73 years old. to change it name. and UL c. rulh Matsunaga. a liberal Democrat who pu hed for on IItutional chanpe that me sage that follo\\ ed, ~uggested that he join his ummlt party Lalli ed II to become interra ial' to Japan a an interpreter. short while . erved 14 years in both the Hou e and laler. the Matsunagas recel\'ed an om enate, \\as in Toromo for treatment \Iilitar) Senice McCoy l:ial mVltallOn. of cancer. In January. h had an­ nounced that he had protatc c:ancer that HaVIng earn d a ummi illO m th Upon the amval of the lOOlh Inranll} A BanI' Ulki, P.e. comnbutor m univeJty ROTC program. and u\\are all- isci baualion from HawaIi for Tokyo repOrted of the gathering \\ith hadpread to hi bones Hi wife. Helene, and two of hi hve chIldren ot the growing tcn Ion bet\\een th' tralllln!! In WI cunsln In June of 1942. about 20 re ident 'Isel at the anna .mJ Japan, lat unag:1 volun- then Second Lt. Spark Matsunaga and Hotcl. Spark explained hi preence in were With him \\hen he died. Sen \1at unaga cast hi . tinal Senatt: te red for active ~n dut) upon hi thc enllre bauallOn paradet! through the the entoumge was mo t appropriate vote from a wheelchair on AprilS in graduation. He \\.1 a Igned to Hllnl' trceh of Madl on. "We wcre received from the . tand point of Improving tead Field, an rmy Air Force in lal L With extreme. courte~y :ind ho pltahty upport of exten Ion of the Clean Air further the excellent L SJapan rela­ lanon on ~Iolokai hy all Wiscon inites except that one Act He e pouet! man) InnO\ative tion. After the attack on Pearl Harbor. eldcrl) genlleman remarked after \'lew mea ures to repleni h the environment. HIS appearance in Korca al. 0 h()\\ed Mal. unaga, though a Cl: nd lieutenant ling the parade thaI allhough he did not mcluding plane fueled by hydrogen in­ that U Jemocrac} docs provide her in th Amen an rm} , \\ a detained • ~ee an} feathers on our cap, he thought citizens oj A Ian descent with equal stead of fos il fuel and the develop­ ment ot \vInd power for commercial \\ IIh other L Idien. of Japant: '# ror a momenl thaI the :ndian had mod­ opportullIlle '. hlp~. While devoting much of hi de cent In a pn on camp He h Ipcd ernllcd and gone back on the warpath. SEN , SPARK MATSUNAGA Jraft a plea to Pre Ident Revell that "We dldn t blame him one bit. fur career to fostering the economy of hi a~ Spork-1967 native Ha\\all, Mat unaga also was a re ulted in the r rmallon of the I th II \\ the fiN time lhat he or mo I of Infantr) Batl4lhon. later to beLnme one lthers had seen anyone of Japanesc an­ voice for free trade, the peaceful explo­ so that he finally had it legalized, after \\ Ith a face lIke mme I have become of the mo t highl) d orated UOil in 'L tl) TIlelf mlild's image of th' accustomed to bemg mi taken for an ration of pace and improved S - hi WWIl military ser\i e. Hi bo)­ Amencrul military hi tof}. .I pane e obtameu lrom the COIllIC tnp kllll, Soviet relation . hood ambItion wa to rYe the people Indian. an E a Korean. a V llh the lOOth Infantrv Battallun ~uch .Iapane~e Undoubtedly hi greatet legi latlve of Hawaii in the l" Congre, al­ \ U\ lhat we had to apologize lo! Chine " ' diplomat For the fif'lt Japane e merican' combat uni; f'lliing to bring Wlti. us our bu{ k t 'eth cxam J.c, In Jul) of 1967, when! ae- VictOry wa almo t ingle-handedly though Hawaii \\ a not then a tate and to see frontline action In \v\VIl •• lal· ,!lid homed rlllll11eU gla cs" ompa'llcd Vice Pre idem Hubert gamIng passage in the 1000h Congre. s de pite the fact that statt:hood \\a an unaga foughl m the I orth fn an and . H\lllJphrc) to Korea to Jttend Ihe ,ec­ of a S 1.25·billion Ia\\ that i to PU) unpopular idea at that time . Italia ~n -. S20.000 to each urviving Japanee can;prugn . Twi e wounded in ond lIlaugunllIon of PreSident Park, I Depr ion Era Graduate Ital ,he \\ a. a\\ ankJ the Purpl Heart \\ a nllstakell tor tr, Humphrr 's Ko­ Amerlcan Interned in a pn '011 Spark - 1945 camp during WWlI. The law rcdre 'se' Mat unaga graduated from KauUl \\ itll Oak Lear Clutl:r. the Legion of reml Interpreter. Anu when I finally Ment. the Bronze tar. the rnlyCom­ In 194'i, Spar .. \\a a. I!!ncd to ennvmcct! , 1r Lee. the Korean pro the mJu tice utTered by We t Coa't High chool in the depth of the Great Depre sian. and he undertook variou mend anon ledal among variou, other l11 I S at Jot neilln tllld cngaged m ltlcol oflicl.'er that m) nUlne was Spark. Japane e Amencan who, c patrioti~m Job a a tevcdore, \IIarehou eman and decoration and citation . peaking lours fur the War Rd(lcati n ~t,lt UI".I!!a and npt Park he profu el} had been questioned and \ hose civil tore clerk to as i t hi truggling fam­ Authont) then ill thl.' IllIJst 01 re'l:t11 ng apologllcd for hiS mi take. right were dented them when lhey in WR Program ily In 19 7. he \\On 1000 fin.t prize e\'a': uee' in thl: tv1iJwe I and Ea tern Follo\\ Ing that InCident, Mr. Lee and were interned In canlp during the war. m a ub nptlon ale conte t pon­ While addresmg a group of mmu­ state , He addres 'cd :lUndfl'u of audi­ 1 developed a friendship and he made ntt) leaden. m lih aukee, Mal unaga enn: m number Irol11 ~5 to ored b) th Garden/sland ne\ paper. 6.000- a Special effort to ee me off at the Early Years was 0 eloquemthatlhe V ar Rei allon -,. Amencan~ He gave 600 to hi parent and used conSisting 01 white only. aIrport In parting he admitted that he Ma~unaga was born on a ugar plan­ the remruntng $400 to enter the r.J er· Auth my (WR ) a ked him t remaIn L mil he amvcd In} libblng. Mlnncl>ota dlJ not know A ian actually scrveu In tation at Kukuiula. on the Hawaiian 1 - ity of Hawaii . in rvice and help that federal rganl­ 'There alnong m) Ibleners. I spotted the Congre of the UnIted tate, that i~ land of Kauru, the on of Japane e im­ He graduated With honors in June zall n In efrort to resettle Japanese a lonely Onentallace I asked the chUlr­ he at lirst could not believe that the American e acuated from their t man of the program to be ure to arrange migrants. Like mo t isei, he was born 1941, having been elected to Phi Beta Unt ted tates would end one of Alan t hom'~ In wllh a Japanee given name­ Phi , hola! lIe honor ociety. and Pi o 1942 to ommullilie ' tOi my mectmg this stranger after the an estry as Its delegate to the U1augura­ Masayukt. When he wa eight years Gamma Mu , ocia! clen honor In the mldwe t and el. pmgram fhl was done and a I ap­ lion Then he a ked me, "How were In thi pecm] apa Ity, he adure seU proached rum and ~tuck my hand Ollt you d~lgnated'> Who selected )ou?" I more than audien ' thr ughout the to hake hi • I 'aid, "Dr LI\mgston. I replIed. "President John on "He noded region ea t of the 1i' iipPI and pre ume ." With a look ofbc\\IlJennent hll> head thoughtfull and remarked.