Spark Matsunaga

Spark Matsunaga
Matsunaga in 1986
United States Senator
from Hawaii
In office
January 3, 1977 – April 15, 1990
Preceded byHiram Fong
Succeeded byDaniel Akaka
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Hawaii
In office
January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1977
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byCecil Heftel
ConstituencyAt-large (1963–1971)
1st district (1971–1977)
Personal details
Born
Masayuki Matsunaga

(1916-10-08)October 8, 1916
Kukuiula, Territory of Hawaii, U.S.
DiedApril 15, 1990(1990-04-15) (aged 73)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Resting placeNational Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Helene Matsunaga
(m. 1951)
Children5
EducationUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (BA)
Harvard University (LLB)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1941–1945
Rank Captain
Unit442nd Regimental Combat Team
100th Infantry Battalion
Battles/warsWorld War II

Spark Masayuki Matsunaga (Japanese: 松永 正幸,[1] October 8, 1916 – April 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.

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