East LA Marine The Guy Gabaldon Story

Product Description East LA Marine is the true story of WWII Marine Vuy Gabaldon who singlehandedly captured over 1500 Japanese during the bloody battle of Saipan in the summer of 1944. This all but forgotten American hero was Hispanic and raised by a family of Asian-Americans before enlisting in the service when Pearl Harbor was attacked. His amazing accomplishments should have brought him the Congressional Medal of Honor he so truly deserved. This film will try to change that. Review Armed but alone, Marine Pfc. Guy Gabaldon roamed Saipan's caves and pillboxes, persuading enemy soldiers and civilians to surrender during the hellish World War II battle on the island. Using the Japanese language skills he learned as a boy, he warned the Japanese they would die if they stayed hidden and told them Marines were not torturers as they had heard. The Marines, he said, would feed them and give them medical care. Many agreed, and Gabaldon, just 18, led them back to U.S. lines. By the battle's end, Gabaldon had coaxed more than 1,000 Japanese out of the steamy caves. He was praised as being brave and compassionate, and he received a Silver Star later upgraded to a Navy Cross. His actions were recounted on television and in movies. Now, almost two years after his death, there is a renewed campaign to give Gabaldon the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award. A new documentary, East L.A. Marine, asks whether Gabaldon's Hispanic heritage prevented him from receiving the medal, though others blame his tough and outspoken nature. Critics question whether Gabaldon deserves the medal, saying his feats do not measure up to those of others on Saipan. "It's a much bigger issue than any of us realize," said Steve Rubin, who directed the documentary, which will be available online May 6. "Guy is a symbol not only of a hero in war, but a man who treated people humanely. He killed people, sure, but having grown up essentially as a Japanese, he treated them as human beings." Growing up in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Gabaldon became close with a Japanese-American family and made friends with Japanese boys. He also picked up the language as he delivered Japanese newspapers and picked crops with Japanese-Americans. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, more than 100,000 people of Japanese heritage, including Gabaldon's friends, were se