Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand
Summary
Louie's Running Career
In 1936, Louie made the decision to run in the Olympics. Instead of running his usual mile, Louie ran in the 5,000 meter event. Louie's neck-and-neck finish with Don Lash for first in the Olympic qualifier easily positioned him on the Olympic team. Even though Don Lash and Louie finished first and second in their qualifier, neither was believed to have even a minimal shot at winning the event. At the finish line, Louie placed eighth, though not ideal, Louie recorded the fastest lap in Olympic history.
After the Olympics, Louie returned to USC, where he continued to demolish his competition, eventually running the fastest collegiate mile ever, in 4 minutes and 8 seconds. Louie's incredible speed gave himself the nickname of the "Torrance Tornado", after his hometown of Torrance, California. Louie was on pace to break the 4 minute mile mark, but, his enlistment cut that dream short. Even though Louie was one of the greatest track athletes in his time, he never fulfilled the aspiration of breaking that near impossible record.
Characters
Louie Zamperini
Pete Zamperini
Russell Allen "Phil" Phillips
Francis "Mac" McNamara
The Japanese
Mutsuhiro Watanabe, (a.k.a. The Bird)
The Air Force, and Crash Landings During WWII
On Louie's particular plane, the survival kit merely consisted of chocolate, a few canteens, a patching kit, and a fishing rod and hook. This pathetic "survival kit", gave stranded soldiers minute chances of surviving. Another factor that played into the survival of soldiers was nature and its inhabitants. Shark attacks not only took the lives of crash victims, but struck fear into the hearts of servicemen living on such rafts. In the end, hundreds and hundreds of Servicemen died from incidents, much like Louie's. Although, many were not as lucky.