Not everyone knows about Louis Zamperini and his story, but I think they should. His story is so inspiring and shows true bravery and strength. Going from a trouble making child, to star athlete in track, to a prisoner of war, and a survivor of a Japanese internment camp.

Louis Silvie “Louie” Zamperini was born on January 26, 1917 in Olean, New York to Anthony and Louise Zamperini, who are native Italians. He had an older brother, Pete, and two younger sisters, Virginia and Sylvia. Louis and his family moved to Torrance, California in 1919.

As soon as Louis could walk he couldn’t stand to be fenced in. As soon as he was put in a chair he disappeared. In 1919, when Louis had pneumonia, he climbed out his bedroom window and ran down the street with a policeman chasing him. Another time as the train Louis and his family were riding pulled out of the station he bolted, ran the entire length of the train, and leapt from the caboose. The train rolled back to find him. Pete and his frantic mother found him strolling up the track calm and happily.

As a young kid, Louis loved to steal things. He snuck through alley ways, with a roll of lock-picking wire, and whatever was edible, he stole it. Once he broke into someone’s house who was hosting a dinner party, bribed their Great Dane with a bone, and cleaned out their icebox. To lower the amount of evidence found on him when he was caught, Louis set up an assortment of stash sites around Torrance. Some of the stash sites were a three-seater cave that he dug himself and under the Torrance High bleachers.

Louis was frustrated that he couldn’t defend himself, so his father constructed a barbell from two lead-filled coffee cans welded to a pipe. The next time a bully came at him, he ducked out of the way and swung his fist into the boy’s mouth.

Over time, Louis’ temper grew wilder, his fuse shorter and his skills sharpened. Once he punched a girl, pushed a teacher and pelted a policeman with rotten tomatoes. Kids who challenged him ended up with fat lips and bullies also learned to give Louis space.

As Louis was about to start Torrance High, he started to look more like a dangerous young man. There was no money for college and with flunking grades and no skills there was no chance for him to get a scholarship, not knowing he had a skill for running.

After Louis got caught sneaking into the Torrance High gym, his principal wanted to make him not able to do athletic and social activities. But his brother Pete told the principle that if Louis was recognized for doing something right, he will turn his life around. The principle allowed him to join a sport.

Surprisingly it wasn’t Pete that got Louis into track, it was Louis’ weakness for girls. The first time he was on the track, as the bell rang, he ran off the track and hid underneath the bleachers. In his first race, he only passed one boy putting him in 3rd place. Pete kept encouraging Louis to keep going and then he started to win. At the season’s end, he became the first Torrance kid to make the All City Finals, placing fifth. 

In February of 1933, when track season started, he won an 880 yard race, breaking the school record that was held by his older brother, Pete. A week later he ran a mile race and he clocked in the mile at 5:03, three seconds faster than his brother Pete’s record. At another meet, he timed in at 4:58. Three weeks later, he set a state record of 4:50.6.

When Louis ran out of High School students to beat, he took on Pete and 13 other college aged runners in a two mile race. He was only 16 and never ran at that distance but he won by 50 meters.

In 1934, Louis ran in the Southern California Track and Field Championship. He beat all of them and setting a new national high school record at 4:21.3.

Louis’ new goal was to race in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany in the mile. In the spring he realized that he couldn’t catch his older rivals, he was too young. He was heartbroken.

He was encouraged by his older brother Pete to run in the Compton Open, a 5,000 meter race, and see if he could get in the top three so he could go to Berlin. Louis ran and placed third, qualifying him to go to Berlin. As Louis head to Germany by boat he ate so much food that he gained 15 pounds.  Since he gained so much weight, he was sluggish when he ran in his heat, just making it to finials. In the finals Lash and the Finns, his competitors, were ahead and Louis was in the middle of the pack. On the eighth lap he passes Lash, who was injured by the Finns, even though Louis knew that he wasn’t going to medal he ran with all his might and just miss placing seventh.
From the hangar where he worked, Louis could see P-38 fighters cruising overhead. Ever since his trip in the air as a kid, he’d been uneasy about planes, but watching the P-38s, he felt a pull. In early 1941, he joined the Army Air Corps.

While he was learning how to fly a plane he realized that it is much different than watching it from the ground. He washed out of the air corps. Then he signed papers he didn’t read, which was a contract saying that he might be drafted again, and got a job as a movie extra. When he was working on the set of his movie, he got a letter that he had been drafted. Though Louis had been unhappy over having to rejoin the air corps, it wasn’t so bad after all. Training at Ellington Field, in Texas, then Midland Army Flying School, he earned excellent test scores. In August 1942, Louis graduated from Midland, was commissioned a second lieutenant. He was trained as a bombardier, which is a member of a bomber crew in the US Air Force responsible for sighting and releasing bombs. .
As the B-24 Plane Louis was riding in (called Super Man), started to head home from the air battle over Nauru, Super Man started to die. Their base, Funafuti, was five hours away. If Super Man could carry them that far, they would have to land without hydraulic control of the landing gear, flaps, or brakes. There was just enough hydraulic fluid left to save them. Super Man spun in a circle and lurched to a stop just clear of the other bombers.
On May 27, 1943, Louis and his crew were informed that they are going on a search to find a missing B-24. Since their plane, Super Man, was pretty much destroyed, they had to use the Green Hornet. He knew that the Green Hornet wasn’t safe to fly but the Lieutenant said it passed inspection.

As they were in the air looking over the ocean, there was a shudder. Engine no.1 RPMs were falling. Then all of the left engines were dead. The plane dipped downward and crashed into the ocean. As Louis swam up to the surface he heard a voice. It was Phil, with him was Mac. Phil was Louis’ pilot and Mac was one of his gunners. He grabbed a nearby life raft and swam over to Mac and Phil. With Mac eating all of their chocolate bars, surviving Japanese planes shooting at them, little to no water and food. On the 33rd day Mac died. Louis and Phil survived 46 days on the raft.

They were found by a few Japanese soldiers. They took Louis and Phil to an infirmary where they stayed for two days. The Japanese actually cared for the two Americans. After Louis and Phil stayed in the infirmary, they were transported to Kwajalein, also known as Execution Island. They were put into two separate cells. After a week of being on Kwajalein two guards pulled Louis out of his cell. He wasn’t at Kwajalein to be executed, he was there to be interrogated.

He was asked about the E-model airplane, how to operate a radar system, and was told to draw a radar system. He lied during all the questions and when he had to draw a radar system he had drawn a fake radar system.
Once again he was transferred. This time it was to a secret interrogation center called Ofuna. He was told that he couldn’t speak to anyone but the guards, to put his hands in his pockets, or to make eye contact with other captives. Louis and a handful of other veterans were transferred to the Omori POW camp. While Louis stayed at Omori, he and other POWs were introduced to their corporal, Mutsuhiro Watannabe. People also called him the Bird. Louis often got beaten by the Bird, most of the time he didn’t do anything wrong.

After the United States officially declared him dead, Louis was sent to a Tokyo Radio building where Louis talked on the Radio telling his friends and family that he is alive and not dead. The Tokyo Radio people wanted to use him for propaganda and when Louis said he couldn’t they sent him back to Omori.

After Christmas, the Bird stopped hitting Louis and other POWs. Then just before the New Year the Bird was transferred to a distant camp and Louis and the other POWs celebrated. After another B-29 attack, Louis and all the surviving POWs were transferred to Naoetsu. His new corporal was the Bird.

On August 22, there was an announcement that the war had ended and on October Louis landed back in California where he was greeted by his whole family.

As you can tell by reading Louis Zamperini’s story you should learn that after all of the struggles Louis had he kept going and going even when the times were tough. After reading his story you should learn to keep going even when life seems horrible and there is always something to keep you from quitting or giving up.

Works Cited
Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken. New York: Random House, 2010. Prin