Guy Gabaldon
(1926 - 2006)
The battle for the island of Saipan in June and July 1944 was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific Theater of World War II: some 3,500 U.S. troops as well as around thirty thousand Japanese defenders died. Private Guy Gabaldon distinguished himself on the island by capturing over one thousand prisoners, including eight hundred soldiers and civilians on a single morning. For his tactics he was awarded a Navy Cross. His exploits were the basis for the 1960 Hollywood film Hell to Eternity.