Louis Zamperini
A Hero
An Athletic Young Boy
Lois Zamperini was born in 1917 on January 26. Growing up in Torrance, California he ran track and was good at the long distance events. In 1934 Lois set the high school mile record which stood for 20 years. Both of his parents were Italian immigrants so this was there first thing to brag about, their son. He was soon offered a scholarship to attend USC and compete on the track team.
A Growing Success
Louis soon took his skill to the new level. In 1936 he went to New York to attend in the 5,000 meter Olympic trails. He came in second place in the race. But it was enough to go to the Olympics. He got his ticket to go to Berlin for the Olympics. He was still a teenager! At the Olympics he did particularly well he finished his last lap in 56 seconds. He did not medal but he got eight place. He was in the other US booth where he was next to Adolf Hitler he knocked on his door then Hitler waved to him.
Louis with his brother before a race.
Louis after a race.
Louis warming up before a race.
The War
In 1940 Louis graduated from USC he was prepared for the 1940 Olympics but WWII interfered. When the war started he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He was assigned to be put on a B-42 bomber plane. After some successful flyover missions Louis and his crew were assigned to search for a missing plane rescue. While flying over the Pacific ocean his plane had mechanical failures and crashed.
Stranded
Louis and two others were on board a small inflatable raft the other nine crew members were dead. These three brave souls were on this raft for forty seven days. This month and a half were full of hardships. It was full of blistering sun, low flying planes that blasted them with machine guns, circling sharks and little drinking water. One day one of the men died on the raft and they put him to rest at sea. Louis and the other man survived on rain water and two seagulls which flew on the ship.
Captured
When thinking that this journey could not get any worse it did. Louis and his other crew member were captured by the Japanese navy after drifting 2,000 miles from the spot of the crash. The next leg of their journey was soon about to begin. He was sent first to a small remote camp in the jungle with a hand full of other prisoners Louis claimed that he and others were put in capsules full of water all the way up to the neck. Where they were posited to stand for long periods of time. Also they were beat with whips and other tools to cause pain and torture. They added some of their weight back and got shots and were sent to a bigger P.O.W camp.
The Move
When Louis got to the bigger camp he was immediately targeted because he was in the Olympics. Zamperini was separated from his crew member in the crash he was sent to another camp. Louis was forced to clean up human waste, shovel coal repeatedly beaten. Louis was on the brink of death when he got a disease due to the lack of vitamins
End of the War
Then on August sixth the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki less than a month later the war was over. The US started to drop food and cigarettes over the camps to the prisoners. In September almost two years after he was captured Louis was released. By that time the United States sent his family a purple heart and declared Louis dead but he survived. The few that held out hope for Louis were mesmerized to see him come home.
Afterlife
After the war Louis suffered from being an alcoholic. Then he almost got a divorce with his wife. What brought Louis back was a motivational speech from preacher Billy Gram. He started a camp for troubled youth boys and forgave the Japanese tormentors. In 1990 he went to Tokyo to meet with some of them. Then again in 1998 he went to japan to carry the torch for the winter Olympic games. He forgave Matshuriho Wantnabe but he refused to meet with him and became a hermit. Louis wrote two books and was in a movie called Unbroken. Louis died in 2014 of pneumonia.