Gabaldon, Guy Louis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Gabaldon

He became interested from day one on Saipan.
"The first night I was on Saipan, I set out on my own ... I always worked on my own and brought two prisoners here using my street Japanese."
He was initially reprimanded by his superiors and was even threatened with court martial for leaving his post without permission. Even so, the next night he set out again, reached the cave, shot the guard, moved to the other side of the cave and yelled at the Japanese "You are surrounded and have no choice but to surrender. Come out and you will not be killed! I guarantee you will be treated well. We don't want to kill you!"


The next morning, he brought in 50 Japanese prisoners. This allowed Gabaldon to be operated as a "lone wolf" by his commanding officer.


The next day, July 8, Gabaldon captured two Japanese guards. He persuaded one of them to return to the cave with a surrender proposal. Shortly thereafter, a Japanese officer appeared. After speaking with Gabaldone, the Japanese officer accepted the terms of surrender and surrendered along with more than eight other soldiers and civilians, who were then turned over to American authorities.


For these actions, Gabaldone became known as the "Pied Piper of Saipan."


Gabaldon continued to round up prisoners on Tinian, but was severely wounded by machine gun fire during the ambush. That was the end of the war for him.

Controversy

In the book One Marine's War: A Combat Interpreter's Quest for Mercy in the Pacific by Gerald A. Meehl" by Japanese-speaking Marine Corps officer Robert Sheeks, who also served on Saipan, Gabaldon is cast as a relentless self-promoter who vastly exaggerated his exploits on Saipan and Tinian and that most of his captives were civilians, not soldiers as he claimed.


The book also claims that the number captured by him was about half the 1,500 he claimed. A total of 15,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians and Pacific Islanders were captured or surrendered to the Americans after the Battle of Saipan. Many others besides Gabaldon were involved in the effort, but according to Sheeks, Gabaldon minimized the involvement of others when he spoke of his actions during and after the battle.


Author Gerald A. Meehl spoke with several Saipan veterans and in other records, found reports of Gabaldon's abusive behavior toward Japanese civilians and soldiers he encountered on Saipan.


On one occasion, Sheeks witnessed Gabaldon break the jaw of an elderly Japanese woman who did not respond quickly enough to his questions.

He was the subject of the 1960 film Hell to Eternity.