
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 16, 1990                   TAG: 9004160106
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

HAWAIIAN SENATOR DIES OF CANCER

Sen. Spark M. Matsunaga of Hawaii, a longtime advocate for peace and champion of Japanese-Americans seeking compensation for their internment during World War II, died early Sunday in Toronto. He was 73.

Ed Greaney, a spokesman for the late Democrat, said Matsunaga died about 2 a.m. while he was in Toronto for cancer treatment.

In 1988 Matsunaga engineered passage of a $1.25 billion law that pays $20,000 to each surviving Japanese-American interned in a U.S. prison camp during World War II.

Matsunaga lobbied for 22 years before persuading Congress in 1984 to establish a U.S. Peace Institute.

He was first elected to the House in 1962 and the Senate in 1976. Before going to Washington, he was a member of Hawaii's territorial House from 1954 to 1959.

He was born Oct. 8, 1916, on Kauai Island, the son of immigrants from Japan. After graduating from the University of Hawaii with honors in 1941, Matsunaga joined the 100th Infantry Battalion, which later became part of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team.

by CNB