The Battle of Saipan in the summer of 1944 was one of the bloodiest fights of the Pacific War. Thousands of Japanese soldiers and civilians chose death over surrender. One 18-year-old U.S. Marine changed that for more than a thousand of them, armed mostly with street smarts and the Japanese he had picked up as a boy in Los Angeles. His name was Guy Gabaldon, and history remembers him as “The Pied Piper of Saipan.”
Who Was the Pied Piper of Saipan?
Guy Louis Gabaldon was born in Los Angeles on March 22, 1926, one of seven children in a Mexican-American family. He grew up poor in East L.A. and on the streets of Skid Row, where he shined shoes at age 10 to help his parents. He ran with a tough multi-ethnic neighborhood gang and was known for picking fights with the biggest kid around. Once he got his nose broken in a fight, went to the hospital to have it set, and got it broken again the same night.
Raised by a Japanese-American Family
At around age 12, Gabaldon met twin brothers Lane and Lyle Nakano, sons of Japanese immigrants. He was fascinated by their culture and soon moved in with the Nakano family, who treated him as one of their own. He attended Japanese language school with the twins and learned to speak the kind of everyday, informal Japanese you hear at a family dinner table.
Then came Pearl Harbor. Like thousands of other Japanese-American families, the Nakanos were sent to an internment camp. The twins later served with the Army’s famous 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the all-Japanese-American unit that became one of the most decorated in U.S. history. Teenage Guy was left to find his own way.
How Gabaldon Joined the Marine Corps
Gabaldon’s dream was to join the Navy and serve on a submarine, where he figured he would see the most action. But a perforated eardrum and his small size (he stood barely over five feet tall) kept him out.
The Marine Corps, however, was looking for Japanese speakers. Gabaldon told the recruiters he “knew Japanese like a native,” betting that no recruiter could tell the difference. The Marines badly needed interpreters, so they overlooked his size and his eardrum. In 1943, at age 17, Guy Gabaldon was sworn into the United States Marine Corps. He was assigned to the 2nd Marine Regiment as a scout and interpreter.
The Battle of Saipan, 1944
Saipan, in the Mariana Islands, was a key target in the American drive across the Central Pacific. From there, new long-range B-29 bombers could reach the Japanese home islands. U.S. Marines landed in June 1944 and fought for more than three weeks against a determined defense dug into the island’s cliffs, caves and jungle. As the battle turned, many Japanese soldiers fought to the death and many civilians, told to expect horrors at American hands, took their own lives rather than be captured.
How Guy Gabaldon Captured 1,500 Prisoners
Gabaldon decided his Japanese could save lives. On his very first night on the island, he slipped out of camp alone, against orders. He returned with two prisoners and was threatened with a court-martial for leaving his post. He went out again anyway and came back with around 50.
His method was simple and incredibly bold. As he later described it:
“At night I’d usually go to caves — Saipan is just full of caves — and I’d get to one side of the mouth of the cave and I’d say, ‘You are completely surrounded. I’ve got a bunch of Marines here with me behind the trees. If you don’t surrender, I’ll have to kill you.’ And usually it worked.”
He promised the men inside that they would be treated with dignity, given food, water and medical care, and sent home to Japan when the war was over. He often sent captured soldiers back into the caves to persuade their comrades to come out. After his early successes, his commanders let him operate as a lone scout.
“I’d [capture] maybe 10 or 15, 20 at a time and one day I got 800.”
That biggest haul came near the end of the battle on Saipan, when Gabaldon found himself on a cliff top surrounded by hundreds of Japanese soldiers and civilians, some of them still armed. He talked them into surrendering instead of making a last suicide charge. Estimates of his total vary: sources commonly credit him with roughly 1,000 to 1,500 enemy soldiers and civilians taken prisoner on Saipan and the nearby island of Tinian. Either way, it is one of the largest captures ever credited to a single American serviceman.
Gabaldon was later badly wounded in a machine-gun ambush and was evacuated. He received a Purple Heart and an honorable discharge.
Silver Star, Navy Cross and the Medal of Honor Debate
His commanding officer recommended him for the Medal of Honor. Instead, he received the Silver Star. His citation describes how he daringly entered enemy caves, pillboxes, buildings and jungle brush, often under hostile fire, to bring out prisoners.
In 1960, Hollywood told his story in the film Hell to Eternity, with Jeffrey Hunter playing Gabaldon and Gabaldon himself serving as an adviser. That same year, the Marine Corps upgraded his Silver Star to the Navy Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor. Many veterans, historians and Hispanic-American groups have argued for decades that he deserved the Medal of Honor, and the campaign to upgrade his award continues.
Life After the War
After the war, Gabaldon lived for years in Mexico and later on Saipan, running businesses and staying connected to the island where he made history. He wrote a memoir, Saipan: Suicide Island, and in 2004 he was honored at a Pentagon ceremony for Hispanic World War II veterans. Guy Gabaldon died in Old Town, Florida, on August 31, 2006, at age 80, and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
He was one tough little Marine: a kid from the streets of East L.A. who saved more than a thousand lives on the other side of the war. Semper Fi, and well done, Marine!
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was the Pied Piper of Saipan?
Guy Gabaldon, a Mexican-American U.S. Marine from Los Angeles who used Japanese he learned from a Japanese-American foster family to talk enemy soldiers and civilians into surrendering on Saipan in 1944.
How many prisoners did Guy Gabaldon capture?
Estimates range from about 1,000 to 1,500 Japanese soldiers and civilians on Saipan and Tinian, including roughly 800 in a single day.
Did Guy Gabaldon receive the Medal of Honor?
No. He was recommended for it but received the Silver Star, which was upgraded to the Navy Cross in 1960. Supporters continue to push for a Medal of Honor.
What movie is about Guy Gabaldon?
Hell to Eternity (1960), starring Jeffrey Hunter as Gabaldon.
Where is Guy Gabaldon buried?
Arlington National Cemetery. He died in Old Town, Florida, in 2006.
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