Jan. 12, 1959: Paul Coates has the story of Guy Louis Gabaldon, a war hero raised in East L.A. who claimed to have plotted to assassinate Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista.

Gabaldon was raised by the parents of a Japanese American friend and when he enlisted in the Marines, used his language skills in Japanese to win a Silver Star on Saipan. His story was made into the movie “Hell to Eternity.”

Paul Coates’ column originally appeared in the L.A. Mirror in 1959 and was published on latimes.com in 2009. It is available on Archive.org.