Guy Gabaldon

  b. 1926; d. 2006 | American soldier

At The Bottom

— 1938

For a kid like Guy Gabaldon, there seemed to be nothing but rough times ahead.

Guy Louis Gabaldon was on a fast track to a misspent life.  Born into a poor Chicano family in a barrio of East Los Angeles, Gabaldon was a rebellious youth who spent most of his early years defying his parents and running wild in the streets.  He hung out with older kids who hung around the sleazier points of interest in East L.A; he stole beer and liquor from local saloons; he ran with a multiracial band of ruffians known as the “Moe gang,” who stole cars, ripped off grocers and hopped rides on trains.  For a young Mexican American boy growing up in the midst of the Great Depression, opportunities for a decent future were hard enough even for kids who stuck to the straight and narrow.  For a kid like Guy Gabaldon, there seemed to be nothing but rough times ahead.  His parents were exasperated — nothing they said or did seemed to make an impression on their headstrong son.