Early Life in Hawaii and California
Daniel K. Iopa was born on June 27, 1891, in Hawai‘i. He was raised on the windward side of Oʻahu, on a taro ranch in Heʻeia, Kaneohe, where he worked alongside his adopted father, Daniel Damien, catching fish and pounding taro. His sister, Ruby Bright, lived on Moloka‘i. These humble beginnings grounded Iopa in the rural traditions of island life.
In the years before the war, Iopa moved to the mainland United States and settled in Oakland, California, where he worked for a local iron works. According to his draft card, this is also where he was living at the time of his enlistment.
Service in World War I
Daniel Iopa was drafted into the U.S. Army in Oakland and served in Company F, 47th Infantry Regiment. He rose to the rank of Corporal and was deployed to France, where he participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, one of the largest American campaigns of the war.
Sadly, Corporal Iopa fell ill during the campaign and died of disease on September 28, 1918, at the age of 27. He was originally buried in a small French cemetery, tended by the village padre who cared for the graves of soldiers who died in the area.
Return Home and Legacy
In 1921, nearly three years after his death, Iopa’s remains were brought back to Hawai‘i aboard the transport Logan. In a moving tribute, fellow members of the American Legion carried his body over the Nuʻuanu Pali, retracing the historic trail of his Hawaiian ancestors who once fought bravely there.
Funeral services were held at the Williams Mortuary Chapel and his body was laid to rest at the Kaneohe ranch where he had spent his youth. Military honors were rendered by a firing squad, and tributes paid by Legionnaire delegations and military officials. He was unmarried at the time of his death.
Daniel K. Iopa is remembered on the bronze plaque at the Waikīkī War Memorial Natatorium, a tribute to Hawai‘i’s sons who died during the First World War.
Sources Cited
Honolulu Star-Bulletin. (1921, June 16). Kaneohe Ranch to be Burial Place of Hero. p. 1.
Radke, J. (2012, March 13). Daniel K. Iopa. In WWI Memorial Profiles. Retrieved from Ancestry.com and research archives.
U.S. Army. (1918). World War I Draft Registration Card: Daniel K. Iopa. Oakland, California.
