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Specialist Fourth Class Reginald Sueo Arakaki

Reginald Arakaki as a veteran, wearing a pink button-up shirt and glasses.
  • Unit: 185th Engineer Company
  • Date of Birth: December 19, 1934
  • Entered the Military: January 7, 1952
  • Date of Death: April 8, 1989
  • Hometown: Kohala and Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
  • Place of Death: Granite City, Illinois
  • Award(s): National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal
  • Cemetery: Section FF, Site 585. Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri
Contributed by Hannah Hoelscher and Willow Warner
Mentored by Mrs. Katherine Hoerner
Belleville East High School
2024/2025

Early Life

Reginald Sueo Arakaki was born in Kohala, Hawaiʻi, in 1934. He lived most of his childhood in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. His mother, Kanashi Arakaki, and his oldest brother, David, were his main caretakers. The family gave their children Japanese names, like Masaichi for David’s middle name, and Kikue for Rose’s middle name. Reginald’s middle name, Sueo, means “youngest brother” in Japanese. 

Arakaki’s parents immigrated to Hawaiʻi from Japan around 1906. The couple married in 1916, in Honolulu, where their eventual family grew up. Rokuji, Reginald’s father, became a store clerk, later opening his own stores in Niuli’i and Makapala. One Arakaki family store was attached to their home. 

Rokuji Arakaki died when Kanashi was six months pregnant with Reginald. Arakaki had five siblings: George, Arthur, Blanche, Fusae, and Rose. Blanche and Fusae, however, passed during their infancy before Reginald was born. 

Arakaki was a hard worker throughout his life, graduating as the valedictorian of his class in middle school. He graduated from Kohala High School in 1953. 

Arakaki in Hawaiʻi as a child, sitting in some plants, 1944. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.
Arakaki and his mother, Kanashi, when he was a child. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.
Young Reginald Arakaki playing in a barrel, July 9, 1944. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.

Homefront

Honolulu

Arakaki grew up in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, which was an industrialized city with a bustling economy and nightlife in the 1940’s. While he lived there, towns across Hawaiʻi were involved in sugar and pineapple production. One prominent business in the area was the Kohala Sugar Company, starting in 1863 and lasting until 1965. After World War II, mechanization changed these industries, with unionization, expanding opportunities, and growth of private land ownership eliminating plantations.

During the Korean War, more troops were stationed in Hawaiʻi. At the time, Hawaiʻi was shifting from an agriculture-based economy to one that relied on tourism. Americans began to have more access to the islands, restaurants, and tourism opportunities.

Photograph of the old Arakaki family store, attached to their house, 2003. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.
The Kohala Hongwanji Mission Cemetery is a Japanese cemetery where much of the Arakaki family is buried. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family. 
Darlene, Alan, and Kanashi Arakaki at the family’s cemetery plot. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.

Military Experience

Reginald Arakaki first enlisted on January 7, 1952 in the Hawaiʻi National Guard, part of the U.S. Army Reserves. He was honorably discharged, but he quickly re-enlisted in the U.S. Army on active duty on April 7, 1954 with the rank of private second class. He attended the Army’s engineering school for diesel engine repair and engineer equipment repair in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in 1955.

Arakaki served with the 185th Engineer Company and he was a designated marksman while in the company. Reginald was stationed in Tongmun-ni, South Korea for 20 days with his company.

After the Korean War, Reginald was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and left active duty on April 5, 1957, as a specialist third class. He received the  National Defense Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.

Reginald Arakaki’s certificate of proficiency from the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, November 23, 1954. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.
Photograph of Reginald Arakaki washing his clothes during his time in the Army. Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.

Veteran Experience

While serving in the U.S. Army, Arakaki met his wife, Virginia Cunningham, on a double date with one of his friends in the St. Louis area. They married in 1956. Shortly after Arakaki was discharged from the Army, the family, including their first child, Michael, moved into a home in Granite City, Illinois. As time went on Reginald and Virginia had two more children, Darlene and Alan.

McDonnell Aircraft 

Reginald Arakaki started working at McDonnell Aircraft as a SAP Lathe Operator. He enjoyed working the second shift rather than first shift because he wanted to be able to do his job without being questioned. In addition to his night shifts, he worked a second job at a small machine shop in St. Louis during the day.

Hobbies

Arakaki also loved outside activities like hunting, fishing, and skeet and trap shooting. He joined clubs at McDonnell Aircraft for skeet and trap shooting and won a few awards with those clubs.

Announcement of the marriage license issued for Reginald S. Arakaki and Virginia L. Cunningham. Edwardsville Intelligencer, March 20, 1956.
Reginald Arakaki (third from the left) and his team won first place in a spring league trap and skeet tournament. McDonnell Douglas Spirit, Courtesy of the Arakaki Family.

Commemoration

Reginald Arakaki was an extremely hard working man who worked till the day he died, so that his family could live a happy and comfortable life. He inspired his children to work as hard as they needed to create the life they wanted for themselves and their family. That legacy will not be forgotten as his family has lovingly documented his extraordinary life and ancestry in a scrapbook that can be passed on from generation to generation.

Reginald Arakaki died on April 8, 1989. He is buried with his wife, Virginia (who died on October 1, 2002), at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Record of Reginald Arakaki’s interment at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, April 12, 1989. National Archives and Records Administration.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Arakaki, Alan. In-Person interview with the author. January 15, 2025

Arakaki, Alan. Telephone interview with author. December 13, 2024.

Arakaki Family Records. 1934-1989.  Courtesy of Darlene Arakaki.

Farrington High School Yearbook. Honolulu: U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012, 1950. https://www.ancestryclassroom.com/.

“Funeral Summary.” Granite City Press Record [Granite City, IL], November 5, 1998. https://archive.org/details/GCPR.1998.11.05/page/n7/mode/2up.

Hawaii. Hawaii. 1930 U.S. Federal Census. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com. 

Hawaii. Hawaii. 1940 U.S. Federal Census. Digital images.https://ancestryclassroom.com. 

Hawaii. Hawaii. 1950 U.S. Federal Census. Digital images.https://ancestryclassroom.com. 

“Local Obituaries for the Week of Oct. 23, 2002.” Steelville Star-Crawford Mirror [Steelville, MO], December 10, 2024. http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/crawford/obits/10-23-02.txt.

“Marriage Licenses.” Edwardsville Intelligencer [Edwardsville, IL], March 20, 1956.

Reginald Arakaki. Certificate of Military Service. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Reginald Arakaki. Official Military Personnel File (partial). National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Secondary Sources

“Reginald Arakaki.” Veterans Legacy Memorial, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Accessed March 4, 2025. https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/REGINALDARAKAKI/C03A6AC. 

“Reginald Sueo Arakaki.” Find a Grave. Updated June 20, 2016. Accessed March 4, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/165382336/virginia_lee-arakaki. 

“Virginia Lee Cunningham Arakaki.” Find a Grave. Updated June 20, 2016. Accessed March 4, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/165382336/virginia_lee-arakaki.

This profile was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.