Guy Gabaldon died Thursday August 31, 2006 at his home in Old Town, Fla. He was 80. The cause was a heart attack.
From an L.A. Times Article:
The actions that earned Gabaldon the nickname "the Pied Piper of Saipan" took place in June 1944 on the 25-mile-long island in the Northern Marianas in the western Pacific Ocean. Marine Pvt. Gabaldon killed 33 Japanese soldiers on his first day of combat, he said. Later he changed tactics.
Disobeying orders, Gabaldon went behind enemy lines by himself looking for Japanese. He "daringly entered enemy caves, pillboxes, buildings and jungle brush, frequently in the face of hostile fire," reads the citation that went along with his Navy Cross. The goal was to get the Japanese to surrender.
Years later, Gabaldon called his actions foolish, but back then he had reasons to believe he would succeed.
Many years before, in Boyle Heights (Los Angeles, CA), a Japanese American family had taken in Gabaldon a wayward boy, prone to trouble and raised him. He experienced Japanese language, food and culture firsthand.
During the war years the family was sent to an internment camp and Gabaldon joined the Marines. He used his limited Japanese language skills in his contacts with Japanese soldiers and civilians.
From an L.A. Times Article:
The actions that earned Gabaldon the nickname "the Pied Piper of Saipan" took place in June 1944 on the 25-mile-long island in the Northern Marianas in the western Pacific Ocean. Marine Pvt. Gabaldon killed 33 Japanese soldiers on his first day of combat, he said. Later he changed tactics.
Disobeying orders, Gabaldon went behind enemy lines by himself looking for Japanese. He "daringly entered enemy caves, pillboxes, buildings and jungle brush, frequently in the face of hostile fire," reads the citation that went along with his Navy Cross. The goal was to get the Japanese to surrender.
Years later, Gabaldon called his actions foolish, but back then he had reasons to believe he would succeed.
Many years before, in Boyle Heights (Los Angeles, CA), a Japanese American family had taken in Gabaldon a wayward boy, prone to trouble and raised him. He experienced Japanese language, food and culture firsthand.
During the war years the family was sent to an internment camp and Gabaldon joined the Marines. He used his limited Japanese language skills in his contacts with Japanese soldiers and civilians.