Please click here to view a student eulogy for Muranaka at Tahoma National Cemetery in 2025: https://youtu.be/rmOC5YaC8dU.

Biography - Part 1

Early Life
Reynold Tadyoshi Muranaka was born in Paauhau, Hawaiʻi, on a sugar plantation camp on March 18, 1919. He was the eldest of eight children born to Japanese immigrants, father Torakichi Muranaka and mother Tsuna Muranaka. 

Muranaka’s parents’ marriage was not one of love but one of necessity. His mother was a picture bride from Japan. Most Japanese immigrants who came to Hawaiʻi and the American West Coast in the early twentieth century were single men. Matchmakers offered to match women who wanted to immigrate the opportunity to be placed in an arranged marriage (by showing men their pictures). These women were matched with Japanese immigrants living in Hawaiʻi or the West Coast, who often married them days after arrival.

Japanese language newspapers, stores, movie houses, schools, and restaurants surrounded Muranaka as he grew up. Thus, he grew up bilingual, speaking both Japanese and English. During the summers, Muranaka worked on the sugar plantation with the other boys. They worked from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day earning a salary of ten cents per day. 

As a teenager, Muranaka left the sugar plantation on the Big Island and moved to Oahu to further his education. Muranaka attended McKinley High School, one of four public high schools in Honolulu. Muranaka graduated on June 6, 1937 with over 1,000 classmates. The theme of the commencement was, “The Spirit of Citizenship.” 

After graduation, Muranaka leveraged his bilingual abilities and worked at a bilingual newspaper, the Nippu Jiji.

In 1940, Muranaka visited the Japanese embassy and signed an order of repatriation giving up his partial Japanese citizenship. On November 15, 1941, Muranaka was drafted into the U.S. Army.

Homefront
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaiʻi, on December 7, 1941, changed the future of the island chain. Honolulu became an important military staging area during World War II and the population boomed. Many service industry establishments entered the area to support the influx of service members.

While Muranaka was serving his country during the war, many other Japanese Americans (mostly on the West Coast) were held in incarceration camps. One camp, Honouliuli Internment Camp, on the island of Oahu, operated from 1943 to 1946. This camp, which could hold 3,000 people, included both internees and prisoners of war. 

After World War II, the population decreased and Hawaiʻi entered a period of economic decline. 

In the 1950s the population again increased, spurred by tourism to the islands as well as the service members stationed in Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiian Islands maintained agricultural programs during the Korean War. Specifically, they harvested sugar and pineapple on plantations. Often immigrants from Japan and other Asian countries lived in plantation housing to harvest the sugar. Important agricultural products of Hawaiʻi included beets, taro, and livestock.

The Dole Company established a plantation on the Hawaiian islands. The island imported most of its rice from California, but looked to increase rice production on the island.

Although not yet a state, Hawaiʻi pushed for statehood during the 1950s. Hawaiʻi officially became the fiftieth state in 1959.

A young Japanese American man in an Army uniform looking at the camera.

A graduation announcement for the McKinley High School class of 1937. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 29, 1937.

A newspaper article listing more than 1,000 graduates of McKinley High School in 1937.

Muranaka is seen at the Military Intelligence Service Language School in 1943. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress (AFC/2001/001/96476).

Muranaka, wearing an Army uniform and carrying books.

Muranaka (far left) pictured in uniform in Japan, 1945. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress (AFC/2001/001/96476).

Three Asian American U.S. soldiers in uniform.

This is the Bronze Star and commendation letter Muranaka received for his work interrogating prisoners during the Korean War, 1951. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress (AFC/2001/001/96476).

Muranaka's Bronze Star and commendation letter.

This Army Commendation Medal was awarded to Muranaka for his 20-year career in the United States Army, 1962. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress (AFC/2001/001/96476).

Recognition of Muranaka's 20-year commitment to the U.S. Army.

Muranaka’s certificate of retirement from the U.S. Army, February 1, 1962. Portions have been redacted for privacy reasons. Veterans History Project, Library of Congress (AFC/2001/001/96476).

Reynold Muranaka's certificate of retirement.

Muranaka is remembered by this niche marker at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington. The Shinto symbol honors his Japanese heritage, March 11, 2025. Courtesy of Nicole Maleki.

The final resting place for Reynold and Rose Muranaka at Tahoma National Cemetery.

REYNOLD T MURANAKA

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