Guy Gabaldon - The Pied Piper of Saipan

The Pied Piper of Saipan

The United States considered the possibility of a full scale invasion of the Japanese mainland but decided that such a feat would be costly, with an estimated one million American casualties. The capture of Saipan was considered essential for the establishment of airfields which would accommodate the B-29 Superfortress bombers to be used for the planned invasion. On June 15, 1944, an armada of 535 ships carrying 127,570 U.S. military personnel which included Marines from the 2nd and 4th Divisions began the invasion of Saipan. Japanese soldiers seldom surrendered during World War II and, as the invasion went badly for the Japanese, they were ordered by their superiors on Saipan to kill seven U.S. Marine and Army troops for every man they lost, or commit suicide.

Gabaldon began bringing in prisoners the very first day that he arrived on Saipan. According to Gabaldon:

"The first night I was on Saipan, I went out on my own...I always worked on my own, and brought back two prisoners using my backstreet Japanese."

Gabaldon was reprimanded by his superior officers, and threatened with a court-martial for leaving his post. However, the next night he went out and did it again. He carefully approached a cave, shot the guards outside, moved off to one side of the cave, and yelled in Japanese, "You're surrounded and have no choice but to surrender. Come out, and you will not be killed! I assure you will be well-treated. We do not want to kill you!"

The next morning he returned with 50 Japanese prisoners. As a result, Gabaldon was permitted by his commanding officer to act as a "lone wolf" operator.

On July 7, 1944, after spending a night near Saipan's northern cliffs, Gabaldon heard and listened to thousands of Japanese troops and civilians preparing for a large "banzai charge." Gabaldon quickly reported this information, which enabled the U.S. troops to prepare an overwhelming defense. The attack was disastrous for the Japanese, and the surviving Japanese returned to their positions.

The next day, on July 8th, Gabaldon captured two more guards. He convinced one of them to return to his cave, with an offering of surrender. Shortly thereafter, a Japanese officer showed up. After speaking to Gabaldon, the officer accepted the conditions of surrender - and over eight hundred soldiers and civilians surrendered to Gabaldon, who turned them over to the U.S. military authorities. For his exploits, Gabaldon became known as The Pied Piper of Saipan.

Gabaldon continued to capture more Japanese soldiers until he was wounded in a machine gun ambush. He was credited with the capture of 1,500 enemy personnel and was recommended for the Medal of Honor by his commanding officer, Capt. John Schwabe, who noted that he single-handedly captured more than ten times the number of prisoners taken by Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Alvin C. York in World War I. Despite this recommendation, Gabaldon was only awarded a Silver Star.