The Army might teach its soldiers the most useful skills for fighting on the battlefield, but it can’t possibly teach every such skill. During Guy Gabaldon’s service in the Pacific Theater of World War II, the skill that came in most handy was his fluency in the Japanese language.

Gabaldon was born in East Los Angeles, California, to Mexican-American parents. As the fourth of seven children, he didn’t spend a lot of time at home. He spent much of his youth shining shoes, running errands and staking out shady characters for the Los Angeles Police Department. It earned him enough money to run around downtown Los Angeles until all hours of the night.

“My childhood in the slums had much to do with my attitude in battle,” he said in a 1998 interview. “I was a 10-year-old lad living as a waif in the ghettos of Los Angeles, shining shoes on Skid Row. Fighting in the Pacific tropical jungles and living in the East Los Angeles ghettos had a lot in common — you had to be one step ahead of the enemy or adios, mother!”

One day, he met Lane and Lyle Nakano, a couple of Japanese-American teens around his age. Young Guy was immediately drawn to Lane and Lyle because they worked hard, got good grades and were never in trouble. He was so drawn to the twins, in fact, that he would leave his family to live with theirs.

Living with the Nakanos for seven years gave Gabaldon an affinity for Japanese culture. In the three years before World War…