WWII Veteran, entrepreneur Norman Hashisaka inducted into McKinley High School Hall of Honor
By RICK QUAN
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HONOLULU, Hawaii (KITV) — The McKinley high school hall of honor includes such notables as former Hawaii governor George Ariyoshi, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye and Olympic gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku. And now you can add the name of Norman Hashisaka to that list.
It was in 1943 Hashisaka graduated from McKinley High School. And now more than 80 years later, he returned to his hallways for his induction into the school’s Hall of Honor.
“Oh, I think it’s incredibly special for him. I mean, he’s come from very humble beginnings. So I think he never imagined that he would come back, you know, over 80 years later and be given such a special honor,” said Norman’s daughter, Ann Hashisaka.
After graduation, Hashisaka volunteered to join the Army as a member of the military intelligence service. As a son of immigrants, he was fluent in Japanese.
“We communicated in Japanese at home, so I was willing to help,” Norman said.
He later moved to Kauai where he operated a number of successful businesses. With his wife Mabel, they founded the well-known Kauai Cookie brand, a product which is now sold in both Hawaii and on the mainland.
“He always said, ‘Maybe I’m not the smartest,’ so you don’t have to be the smartest but you do have to set goals for yourself and work hard. Nothing is going to just be handed to you. You have to go for it and earn it,” Ann said.
McKinley student Shawn Kaneshiro nominated Hashikawa for the Hall of Honor after getting to know him while working on a school project.
“The more we interviewed him and got to know him. It was like, wow, this is this veteran. And this alumni of the school was you know, it was just something first like I remember that we had the Hall of Honor it was like this is a perfect opportunity,” said Kaneshiro.
Now at age 98, Hashisaka remains active, even going to the Hawaii on the Hill event last year in Washington DC to promote his cookies. On the Garden Island, he’s known as a living treasure. He has this message for the students.
“When he was here at McKinley, his father got very sick. He had cancer and he actually passed away before my dad graduated in his senior year. So especially to the kids he wanted to say, ‘Look at me, I had nothing, you know. Sorry, not even a parent,’ and he still was able to carry on,” Ann said.
Hashisaka’s portrait will be displayed prominently at McKinley High School for the next year.
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