In 1944, thousands of Japanese on Saipan hid in caves, sure the Americans would torture them if they came out. Many families chose the cliffs instead.
An 18-year-old American Marine from East Los Angeles walked up to those caves at night, alone, and called to them in Japanese.
His name was Guy Gabaldon. He was a Mexican American kid who had grown up partly in the home of a Japanese American family, the Nakanos. That is where he picked up his Japanese. When the war came, the Nakanos were sent to internment camps. Their twin sons, Lane and Lyle, joined the U.S. Army anyway and served in the 442nd.
Fifty years later, he still said it plainly: "These were Americans."
On Saipan, Gabaldon was a scout with the 2nd Marine Regiment. Right after landing, he slipped off on his own and came back with prisoners. His commanding officer, Capt. John Schwabe, threatened him with a court-martial for leaving his post.
The next night, he came back with about fifty.
After that, they let him go out alone.
He crawled to the cave mouths in the dark and promised the people inside water, medical care, and that nobody would hurt them. Night after night, ten or twenty at a time, they followed him out.
On July 8, by his own account, about 800 came out in a single day. Schwabe remembered that day too. It was the day they tagged him the Pied Piper of Saipan.
Not everyone listened. At the cliffs, he begged a mother not to kill her child. He watched her throw the baby and jump. He was still talking about it fifty years later.
His Navy Cross citation says that on Saipan and Tinian he brought in "well over one thousand enemy civilians and troops."
Schwabe recommended him for the Medal of Honor. He received the Silver Star. Sixteen years later, after Hollywood made a movie about him, the Navy upgraded it to the Navy Cross.
He died in 2006 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
I am Japanese. Those caves were full of my people, frightened, starving, and certain that the Americans were monsters.
An American teenager walked toward them in the dark and offered them water.
On this Veterans Day, Japan should know his name.
Former Royal Marine & GHF site manager Dave McIntosh told Declassified UK Gaza looked like an apocalypse and that the ITF were a bigger threat to aid workers than Hamas.
He described Israeli terrorist forces repeatedly firing on their sites in cleared, flattened areas — then denying it when confronted — and treating starving Palestinians at the aid points like a “sadistic field day,” including the reported shooting of a 12-year-old boy.
An ex-marine on the ground is spelling out what he saw.
#FreePalestine #Gaza #GHF
🚨 Breaking: The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Americans, tell your president not to interfere between Iran and Israel. We'll force Israel to its knees in one day. Iran warns Israel: Wait until midnight. We'll make it rain from the sky. 🚀💥🔥🇮🇷🇮🇱🇺🇸
5/ It's unlikely anything substantive will be passed in the lame duck but we can educate the American voter on what they need to do to make sure we have the power to bring change in January. Get them to take to marches that demand higher taxes on billionaires.
6/ Say the words over and over: Raise billionaire and millionaire taxes. If we stay on the current path, the new Democratic party members should be sure to rent and not buy in DC because they won't be staying very long.
3/ Schumer thrives on the easy money from billionaires who are happy to fund pet projects as long as their ox doesn't get gored. They believe that the cuts in the Big Ugly Bill were solidified by the money the billionaires put in Schumer's coffer.
2/ We can't even say the words. Nobody in DC can. But I will. We need to raise taxes. First, on billionaires and then, on then on millionaires. If we don't, we will be blown out in 2028. Schumer is not going to do it. It's not who he is.
1/ Democrats are about to learn the reality of the GOP mess they are now going to be blamed for. All the freshman selfies and back-patting will fade and the grim reaper will be at the door when the rural hospitals close and millions of Americans lose their health care.
Join our FREE WEBINAR 'Exit Health Insurance,' to discover how CrowdHealth and community-powered medical crowdfunding offer an alternative to traditional health insurance.
November 18 | 7 PM Central
We packed Hakeem Jeffries' office to urge him to speak up about the most pressing issues facing people in the U.S.
We asked him to speak out about cutting the $1.5 trillion war budget, stop funding the war on Iran, and oppose the US-Israeli military merger.
For American readers, 'nonce' is Brit prison slang for a child-molester. It's an acronym drawn from the words, 'not on normal courtyard exercise', because child-molesters - the lowest scum - obviously attract "prison justice".
See Ian Watkins, & Ian Huntley for reference.