A Friendship Like No Other
A group of multiethnic boys torn apart by war lead extraordinary lives dappled with tragedy and mystery.
A ragtag group of teenage boys who called themselves the Moe Gang used to roam the streets of Boyle Heights, a suburban city a few steps east of downtown Los Angeles known in the pre-World War II days for its diverse ethnic population. So it’s befitting that the Moe Gang, named after a “Three Stooges” character, was comprised of boys with last names like Shizumura, Factor and a boy named Pancho whose last name no one can recall.
This wasn’t the type of gang we think of in modern times but a bunch of neighborhood kids up to no good. Back then, teenagers could explore their city’s boundaries without fear of predators or danger and the boys would go joyriding on the banks of the Los Angeles River and hitch rides on freight trains from the Union Pacific yard in East L.A. to Barstow.
Their friendship forged by respect and adventures was torn apart early by the extraordinary circumstances of World War II. And like other stories about that dark chapter in American history, the War shaped the rest of their lives as internees, war heroes, and for some, bitter enemies.
Making and Breaking the Moe Gang
Their stories span over six decades and are punctuated with question marks and secrets taken to the grave. Some lost contact and were never reunited over the years of turmoil and relocations. Many have passed away, but for two surviving members the gang’s cast of characters is an easy recall.
They were: Nisei Kakaro Mochinaga, twins Lane and Lyle Nakano, George Une, Katsie Ueda, Johnny Ito and Norman Shizumura; Latinos Guy Gabaldon and Pancho; a Jewish boy named Saul Factor and another kid they called “Frisko.”
A stroke left Katsie in a nursing home, leaving Norman and Kakaro the only two original Moe Gang members left to talk about old times.
“We did good and bad things, mostly bad,” said Norman, 81, with a chuckle. “We had a close-knit friendship.”
Norman was 16 years old when the War broke out. He lived across the street from the Nakano family, but he does not remember saying goodbye to his Moe Gang friends before being swept up behind barbwire fences in Manzanar along with Kakaro and his family. The Nakano twins went to Heart Mountain in Wyoming where they would famously volunteer to fight with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
“The government didn’t give us much time,” said Norman, who lives in Gardena, Calif.
Almost overnight, the boys’ neighborhood fell quiet. The Nisei and their pioneering parents were gone, more than half of the Moe Gang was taken away — and their absence was felt most strongly by those left behind.
“He was devastated,” said Ohana Gabaldon about her husband Guy, a scrappy Moe Gang member who developed an affinity for Japanese culture. “He grew up and never saw anything but American kids.”
“It was hard for him, after the war broke out, he was left without too many friends,” Norman said about his old friend, who he saw for the last time this summer before Guy, 80, died of a heart attack Aug. 31.
From Boys to Heroes
But war brings out the best and the worst. Many of these boys went into the Armed Services and came out heroes.
Norman and Kakaro were drafted out of camp and served in the Army and in the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), respectively. Lane and Lyle gained fame fighting in the 442nd, a role Lane would later recreate on the Hollywood set of the 19
51 movie “Go For Broke!” The brothers always had star quality. At Heart Mountain, a young girl named Ruth remembered watching Lane perform.
“He used to sing at the [camp] dances,” said Ruth, 81, who coincidentally met and married Kakaro later while working in a Utah cannery.
Guy would go on to join the Marines and become a folk hero on the island of Saipan, where using the little bit of Japanese language he picked up from his Nisei friends, he was reported to have captured 1,500 Japanese enemies. Guy was recommended for the Medal of Honor by his commanding officer, Capt. John Schwabe, but instead received the Silver Star. Along with the release of “Hell to Eternity,” a 1960 movie based on his war experience, Guy’s medal was upgraded to a Navy Cross.
After the War, the boys grew into civilian life as accountants, entrepreneurs and entertainers, but nothing about their friendship was ever the same again.
“Our friendship terminated after the War,” said Norman.
This Is Your Life
Sometimes the mind works like a camera freezing a moment in life with a pristine image of a toothy grin and unbridled happiness.
Images of Guy on a 1957 episode of “This is Your Life,” a popular television show that reunited a contestant with long lost friends, is sadly ironic.
Guy, young and visibly moved, is flanked by Lane and Lyle, who both look dashing dressed in matching dark suits. Up to that point, they had not seen each other in 11 years and with Guy’s hand clasped in Lane’s, a part of the Moe Gang was reunited.
“This is the most,” said Guy, his voice choked with emotions.
The Nakano brothers told stories about their childhood antics — jumping out of second story windows on a dare and teaching Guy Japanese words like arigato.
“Beginning from the time that Guy was about 11, he divided his time between spending his life with his family and ours,” said Lane to host Ralph Edwards.
“But one thing, Guy always stood by his friends,” said Lyle.
This moment, frozen in time, would make the larger picture seem all the more tragic. Guy last saw Lyle in 1976 when he owned a popular Hollywood nightclub called the Imperial Garden. Friends remembered Lyle as a gregarious host, but when he sold the business something changed. Lyle committed suicide, Ohana said, but the reasons remain shrouded in mystery.
Guy’s friendship with Lane imploded.
“The last time Guy tried to have contact with Lane Nakano, he was very ill and couldn’t come to the phone,” said Ohana from her Old Town, Fla. home. “I don’t know what happened. I would like to know. I never asked either because obviously people change. Guy never said there was a reason. I don’t know why. What happened?”
Kakaro, 83, said he thinks the falling out was the result of a misunderstanding, but he doesn’t know the details. Some point out that the friends had philosophical differences. Guy was very conservative, said Ohana, adding, “They had very different views.”
With Lane’s passing last April, the Moe Gang faces extinction. In July, a month before his death, Guy met with Norman and Kakaro to share stories for the last time.
“That was the best thing that ever happened,” said Norman.
So much has happened since their carefree days in Boyle Heights, but for Kakaro, it was a friendship unlike any other he would ever find again.
“He’s not the type to make new friends. He keeps old ones,” said Ruth over the phone about her husband, who punctuates the silence in the background with a soft proclamation: “I do feel lonely.”
Print This Article-
Email This Article