From soldier
To Senator
Senator Hiram Fong
Hiram Leong Fong (1906-2004) was born in Honolulu and graduated from McKinley High School.
His father came from China to labor on a sugar plantation. Fong graduated from the University of Hawaii in
1930 and obtained a law degree from Harvard Law School.
During WWII he served as a Major in the Army Air Force as Judge Advocate, later retiring as a Colonel from the US Air Force Reserves.
Hiram Fong was the first Asian-American elected to the United States Senate in 1959. He was appointed by President Nixon as a Congressional Member to the delegation that began diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1974.
Senator Spark Matsunaga
Spark Matsunaga (1916-1990) was born and raised on the island of Kauai.
He was in ROTC at the University of Hawaii graduating in 1941 with honors in Education. During WWII he served with the Army's 100th Infantry Battalion fighting in Italy. After the war, he graduated from Harvard Law School in 1951 using the GI Bill.
Matsunaga served in the United States Senate from 1977-1990.
There is a VA hospital named after him, the "Spark M. Matsunagea Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center" located next to Tripler in Honolulu.
Photo: Spark Matsunaga front row center.
Senator Daniel K. Inouye
Daniel K Inouye (1924-2012) was born and raised in Honolulu.
During WWII he served in the 442 Regimental Combat Team, where he lost his arm in battle in Italy. After the war he finished his education at the University of Hawaii in 1947. Using the GI Bill, Inouye graduated from George Washington University Law School in 1952.
Inouye served in the United States Senate from 1963-2012.
Honolulu's airport was renamed "Daniel K. Inouye International Airport" in his honor in 2017.
Senator Daniel Akaka
Daniel Akaka (1924-2018) was born in Honolulu and graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1942.
During WWII he served in the US Army Corps of Engineers in Saipan. Funded by the GI Bill, Akaka earned a Bachelor and Master of Education from the University of Hawaii. He was a teacher and later a high school principal.
Akaka served in the United States Senate from 1990-2013.
A new veterans home, the "Daniel K. Akaka State Veterans Home" opened in April 2024.
Senator Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth was born in 1968 in Thailand and raised in Hawaii. Her mother is Thai and her father was an American in the military who traced his family's roots to the American Revolutionary War.
She graduated from McKinley High School in 1985 and attended the University of Hawaii. As an ROTC student she earned a Master in International Affairs at George Washington University and was working toward a Ph.D. when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. Duckworth was part of the first group of women in combat. She was injured when her helicopter was attacked and she lost both of her legs.
Duckworth has been serving in the United States Senate since 2017.
Her husband is a former Army Captain and she is the mother of two girls.
Part II Soldier to Senator
Inspiration Hawai‘I Museum
Historic building
Built in 1927, the old Hawaiian Electric building is across the street from the old Post Office and Iolani Palace. The Inspiration Hawaii Museum is located on the ground floor at 900 Richards Street.
Exhibit
From Soldier to U.S. Senator tells the remarkable story of soldiers from Hawaii who became influential United States Senators.
The Inspiration Hawaii Museum features people from Hawaii who have inspired the world.