POW Louie Zamperini I only recently discovered he was assigned to my father's Unit when he became a POW of the Japanese. It is quite a story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zamperini Olympic career</SPAN> In the Olympic trials at Randalls Island, Louis finished in a dead heat against world-record holder Don Lash, and qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, though neither he nor Lash had much chance at winning the 5000 meter race. Louis has related several amusing anecdotes from his Olympic experience, including gorging himself on the boat trip to Europe. "I was a Depression-era kid who had never even been to a drugstore for a sandwich," he said. "And all the food was free. I had not just one sweet roll, but about seven every morning, with bacon and eggs. My eyes were like saucers.” By the end of the trip, Louis had gained 12 pounds. While the weight gain was not advantageous for his running it was necessary for his health, having lost 15 pounds whilst training in the summer heat in New York for the Olympic Trials. Most athletes on the ship gained massive amounts of weight, not just Zamperini. Louis finished eighth in the 5000 meter distance event at that Olympics, but his final lap of 56 seconds was fast enough to catch the attention of Adolf Hitler, who insisted on a personal meeting. As Louis tells the story, Hitler shook his hand, and said simply "Ah, you're the boy with the fast finish."Two years later in 1938, Zamperini set a national collegiate mile record which held for 15 years. He was nicknamed the "Torrance Tornado". Military career and beyond Zamperini enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in September 1941, and after being commissioned a second lieutenant the following August, he was deployed to Hawaii as a bombardier. He and his crew were assigned to a B-24 which they named "Super Man". After their plane was shot up, they were given a different plane, The Green Hornet to look for a lost plane and its crew. Mechanical difficulties caused the Green Hornet to crash into the ocean on May 27, 1943. After 47 days adrift in the ocean, Zamperini and Russel Allen Phillips were captured by the Japanese Navy. Zamperini was held in captivity and tortured severely through the end of the war and his family thought he had been killed in action, but he eventually returned to a hero's welcome. Zamperini was held in a Japanese Navy camp for captives not labeled as Prisoners of War at Ofuna. Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington was held at the same camp and in Boyington's book, Baa Baa Black Sheep he discusses Zamperini and the Italian recipes he would write to keep the prisoners minds off of the food and conditions. While on a raft in the ocean for 47 days he recounts that their minds became more alert at the end of the ordeal than they had originally been because of the mind conditioning they did daily. One of the things he did was prepare (mentally) complete recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and later added brunches and snacks. He gave measurements or ingredients and oven temperatures. They all were "at the end of their rope" so they prayed continually to God. They caught an albatross and used some of the breast meat to catch fish, it repulsed them to eat (smell) it, a week later they got a second one and forced themselves to eat a bit more than previously, and a week later caught a third one and Louie claims that this one "tasted like a hot fudge sunday with whipped cream & nuts"! Louie's other misadventures while adrift included begin strafed multiple times by a Japanese bomber, fending off multiple shark attacks, and nearly being swallowed by a storm. The Torrance airport was renamed Zamperini Field in the 1960s. After the war, Zamperini met Billy Graham, who helped him launch a new career as a Christian inspirational speaker. His wife was instrumental in getting him to go to Billy Graham's meetings and not leaving before he was saved. Louie had been a terrible alcoholic and was instantly released of alcoholism, he could immediately read the Bible and understand it for the first time in his life, and he instantly felt total forgiveness to all who had hurt and tortured him in the prison camps. All miracles that came to him instantly with his accepting Jesus Christ as his savior and receiving forgiveness. One of his favorite themes is "forgiveness," and he has visited many of the guards from his POW days to let them know that he has forgiven them. Many of the war criminals who committed the worst atrocities were held in the Sugamo prison in Tokyo. In October 1950, Zamperini went to Japan and gave his testimony and preached to them through an interpreter (a missionary called Fred Jarvis). The colonel in charge of the prison encouraged any of the prisoners who recognized Zamperini to come forward and meet him again. Zamperini threw his arms around each of them. Once again he explained the Christian Gospel of forgiveness to them. The prisoners were somewhat surprised by Zamperini's genuine affection for those who had once ill-treated him. Most of the prisoners accepted copies of the New Testament which had been given by the Gideons.
I was recently made aware of Louie's amazing story, which is told in the book "Unbroken", written by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of the bestselling book about Seabiscuit. Haven't yet read "Unbroken", but I understand it's excellent.
In my senior year in High School we had an outstanding Home Room Teacher. Mr. Morton Sher was a WWII Veteran and he was Jewish. He was proud of both, and shared his experiences with our class. Mr. Sher told us, we were an all male vocation class, he expected to see everyone of us at the Memorial Day Parade. He marched with the Jewish Veterans of WWII and never missed a parade. He taught many things including pride in country and we should want to serve our country if called upon to do so. Many of us were already enlisted with the Vietnam War, so we would be gone soon after graduation.
