As a young kid Zamperini always got into trouble in his small town of Torrance, California. He would steal things from people's homes when they weren't looking, run from the police, play tricks on people, and get into a lot of fights. At one point his brother, Pete, told him that he had to use his energy for good not evil. Louie began to run. He ran track in high school and realized his talent for long distance running. When Louie was just 17 years old, he set the national high school mile record. He became known as "The Torrance Tornado". He went on and got a scholarship at USC for his outstanding running skills.
In 1936, Louie qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He was still just a teenager. Amazing, I know. I wish I was that talented. He didn't end up getting a medal but he came in 8th place and ran the fastest last lap in Olympic history. At just 19 years old! Wow he really was a fantastic athlete. When Louie went back to college after the 1936 Olympics, he kept setting records. The year he graduated from college he was ready to go back and compete in the 1940 Olympics. But World War II intervened and they were cancelled.
After the 1940 Olympics were cancelled, Louie enlisted in the Army Air Corps. Even though he hated planes and vowed to never have anything to do with planes, he ended up being a bombardier on the B-24 Liberator (Super Man). In 1943, Louie and his crew went up to search for a missing plane. When all of a sudden one of the engines failed and they ended up going down over the Pacific Ocean. Out of the 11 people on the plane only Louie and two others survived.
The men ended up being stranded on raft together for 47 days! That's crazy! I would've lost my mind out there with just the sea and the sky. Okay so maybe one guy did actually go crazy out there, but I totally see why. The three of them were stranded out there for 47 days on an ocean that covered over thousands of miles, sharks trying to eat them, they were dehydrated and starving. And I mean literally starving, like no food, not like when you say you're starving just because you haven't eaten in like 3 hours. They went days without food. They also were shot at by an enemy aircraft and ahead lay a challenge Louie never saw coming.
Finally Louie and Phil were rescued. The only issue was that they weren't exactly "rescued", more like captured, by the Japanese. Louie and Phil were separated and sent to POW camps, where they were beat and tortured. Louie was always singled out and punished and abused more harshly by the camp sergeant that everyone called the Bird. Louie was pushed to the limit, but still he fought on. After being held in captivity for more than 2 years, WWII finally ended and Louie returned to the United States.
After WWII, Louie was scarred from everything he went through during WWII. Who wouldn't be scarred by all that. Louie was a true hero and didn't give up hope despite everything he went through. Louie ended up founding a camp for troubled youth and forgave the Japanese that tormented and abused him. Louie went to a Tokyo prison in 1950 and gave forgiveness to some of them in person. He wanted to give forgiveness to the Bird in person, but the Bird refused to see him. Later in 1998, Louie carried the torch at the Nagano Winter Games in Japan. Louie was such a strong person to be able to put the past behind him and return to Japan not once but even twice and forgive his captors.
Louis Zamperini died at age 97, but he definitely lived a meaningful life. And Louis Zamperini really was a real American hero.
A Rebel Who Became A Champion... A Champion Who Became A Survivor... A Survivor Who Wouldn't Be Broken...
UNBROKEN.
