East L.A. Marine: The Untold True Story of Guy Gabaldon

Steven Jay Rubin's documentary celebrates the extraordinary wartime record of Guy Gabaldon, a five-foot-three dynamo from East Los Angeles credited with single-handedly capturing 1,500 Japanese troops during World War II. The so-called “Pied Piper of Saipan” came to the war with a strong understanding of the Japanese culture and language, as many of his childhood friends were Americans of Japanese heritage. Gabaldon's wartime bravery occasionally flew in the face of official orders (such as never travel alone into enemy territory), but the incredible results of his actions were impossible to ignore. Even so, championing a Hispanic as an American hero seemed to bother some people: the Hollywood biopic Hell to Eternity cast non-Hispanic Jeffrey Hunter as Gabaldon, while the U.S. Marine Corps refused to consider him for the Congressional Medal of Honor (Gabaldon received the Navy Cross instead, an upgrade from an earlier Silver Star Medal). This film—which suffers only from bland narration by Freddie Prinze Jr.—represents part of an effort to secure a posthumous presentation of the Congressional Medal of Honor for Gabaldon (who died in 2006, following a postwar life that was rich in business, political, and literary endeavors). DVD extras include a bonus featurette with interviews of Gabaldon. Recommended. (P. Hall)