Monday, August 23, 2010

‘Guy Gabaldon - Do You Remember ?‘
  Military piece by Thomas D. Segel

Harlingen, Texas, August 22, 2010:  It happens every time a few grey-haired members of the warrior clan assemble for casual conversation.  Veterans of the Navy and Marine Corps call them “Sea Stories”.  The Army and Air Force crowd refer to them as “War Stories”.  Regardless of their exact title, these tales are told time and time again…and with each telling the details become more enhanced and the actions more thrilling.

As the pages on the calendar turn rapidly toward August 31,  I am finding myself taking one of those mental trips back in time.  Some of you may equate this to just another Sea Story, but I can assure you the reported exploits are true.

Guy Gabaldon was my friend.  He left this world and reported for duty with what Marines call Sky 6 and others will say went to his final reward on August 31, 2006.  He was with us for 80 years.

Outside the Marine Corps family, the name Guy Gabaldon may not be well remembered, but during an age when the slaying of human beings seems to be as routine as stopping at the corner street light, it wouldn’t hurt to revisit the accomplishments of this unique individual.

Guy was a product of the Los Angeles streets.  He was taken in by a Japanese-American family at the age of 12 and by the time he was 17 had absorbed many of their customs, traditions and a good understanding of the Japanese language.  When the nation went to war, 5’4” Hispanic-American Guy Gabaldon enlisted in the Marine Corps.

He landed with his unit on Saipan and found himself deeply inserted into the battle for that island. Touching him the most was seeing wave after wave of Japanese soldiers making suicide charges at the Marine lines and entire families of civilians leaping to their deaths from island cliffs rather than be captured.  In one of our long conversations he told me he thought this was such a sad waste of life.

Early in the battle Guy decided to take some individual action.  He slipped into the jungle in advance of his company’s line and moved within voice of a Japanese position.  Using his functional, but limited Japanese, he convinced the soldiers they were surrounded by Marines and that if they surrendered everyone would be treated well and returned to Japan after the war.  The small unit surrendered.

He kept up his nightly infiltrations obtaining much needed intelligence and while so engaged even entered caves and buildings in search of more people he could talk into laying down their arms.  He continued to call out and talk to the Japanese in their language convincing many of them to surrender.  At one point, he talked a group of more than 800 soldiers and civilians to follow him back to the Marine lines.

In the final days of the battle for the island, this “Pied Piper of Saigon”, as he was called, ran out of his magic.  He was seriously wounded by machine-gun fire and was evacuated from the island.

He was awarded the nation’s second highest decoration for valor, The Navy Cross.  In part, his citation read “Working alone in front of the lines he daringly entered enemy caves, pillboxes, buildings and jungle brush, frequently in the face of hostile fire, and succeeded not only in obtaining vital military information but also in capturing well over 1,000 enemy civilians and troops.”

In talking to me Guy said that number was actually well over 1,500 people.

After the war, Guy returned to Saipan and lived on the island for several years.  In addition to a number of business ventures he continued to have a deep interest in bettering the lives of people around him.  On a small island near Saipan he started a youth camp for young people who really had no other home to call their own.  He financed much of that work by raising sheep and goats on that island and selling the products of that effort.

The motion picture “Hell To Eternity” starring Jeffery Hunter told the story of Guy’s exploits.  He told more of his story in two books he authored, “Saipan – Suicide Island” and “America Betrayed”.  A documentary film titled “East LA Marine” also told his story.

Guy Gabaldon was nominated for the Medal of Honor but never lived to see that award presented, though time and time again leading political figures did plead his case. In a telephone conversation just before his death, Guy told me that Newt Gingrich had visited him and that the Speaker was attempting to have the Medal of Honor finally awarded.  “But, I never did that for a medal”, he said.  “I just wanted to save some lives.”

Semper Fidelis

Thomas D. Segel
http://thomasdsegel.com/

Posted by Thomas D. Segel on 8/23/10

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