Louis Zamperini

Louie and Billy Graham (billygraham.org ((Courtesy of Louie Zamperini))

Louis (Louie) Silvie Zamperini was born on January 26, 1917 in Olean, New York. His parents were Louise and Anthony Zamperini. He had one brother, Pete Zamperini, and two sisters, Sylvia and Virginia Zamperini. In 1920, the Zamperinis moved to Torrance, California. They moved because the children developed pneumonia when they were toddlers. The doctor recommended that the Zamperinis move to California. From the time Louie was two years old, when he had pneumonia and jumped out of a building, he was a delinquent. He would fight anyone who tried to bully him. Louie smoked and stole beer from shops when he was still a child. Police were bringing him home everyday and his father would punish him by slapping him. He had a terrible temper.

Louie idolized his older brother Pete who was much better than Louie at a lot of things. Pete was destined to turn Louie's life around and suggested that Louie try out for the track team. Louie hated the idea. He'd never liked running. Pete told him that if he stayed like the way he was living that Louie would end up on the streets. When Louie ran his first mile, it took him 8 minutes. He was out of breath and embarrassed. Pete took him on practice runs. Pete would ride his bike and Louie would run. Eventually, Louie ran a 4:21.3 minute mile in a race. He was destined for the Olympics. Louie graduated high school and attended college at USC. Louie ran track at USC. His time was getting faster and faster. He was given the nickname The Torrance Tornado. Louie decided to train for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Louie qualified for the 1936 Olympic Trials. In his qualifying race, Louie and Don Lash finished neck and neck. At first, the judges said that Louie had won. They eventually decided that Lash was the true winner. It didn't matter to Louie. He made the Olympics in the 5,000 meter race. Although Louie did not earn a medal at the Olympics, it was good enough for him. He ran the fastest last lap of a 5,000 meter race in the Olympics. In 1938, when Louie was running a race, the other competitors cut Louie's legs with their cleats. Despite that, Louie ran a 4:08 minute mile! The fastest mile ever in the NCAA back then. Louie set his goal for the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The Olympics were cancelled because World War II started.

Louie did not want to go to war. He studied in Torrance, California when the war had started. He was drafted into the war, but before his physical, Louie ate a bunch of candy that made his blood sugar high. He failed his physical. A couple of days later, he had to retake the physical. There was no getting out of this one. Louie was sent to an Air Force base in Hawaii. In Hawaii, Louie met a man named Russell Alen Phillips (aka Phil). They instantly became friends. Phil was a pilot and Louie was a bomber. He used a Norden Bombsight. Louie would pick up targets through the bombsight and drop the bombs. Louie and Phil were paired together. Nobody wanted to fly the plane named the B-24 Liberator. It was heavy and hard to fly. Unfortunately, Phil was assigned that plane. He named his plane the Superman. Coming back from a bombing, the Superman was heavily damaged. They crashed landed into the runway. Louie and Phil would never fly the Superman again. A couple days later, Louie and Phil's crew went on a search mission. They flew a plane called the Green Hornet. It was probably the worst plane Phil had ever seen. Parts were taken off the Green Hornet to help repair other planes. The other plane that went with them was the Daisy Mae. About a quarter of the way into the flight, the Daisy Mae flew away from the Green Hornet. A little while later, one of the Green Hornet's engines blew out, then another. Phil told the crew to take their crash positions. The plane hit the water at full speed. It was torn in half. Louie survived the crash and tried to swim away but his body was stuck under a part of the plane. He thought he was going to drown. The plane plunged down deeper and deeper. He finally swam away and deployed his life vest. He slowly ascended to the surface. When he reached the top of the ocean, both life rafts were inflated. Phil had survived but hit his head on the the controls. There was a terrible gash on his forehead. The other survivor was tail gunner Francis McNamara (aka Mac). Louie climbed aboard the raft. The wreckage was everywhere. Louie tied two rafts together so that there was enough room for the three of them. They had very little rations. A chocolate bar, and a couple bottles of water was all that had survived the crash. They decided to eat one square in the morning and one square at night. On the first night, Mac ate the whole bar. In the morning, Louie was infuriated. It was the only food they had. They kept hydrated by drinking rain water, eating raw fish and birds for food, and deflected shark attacks. Louie and Phil wanted to keep their minds sharp by asking each other trivia. Mac did not participate. Louie and Phil were optimistic, but Mac was not. On about the 30th day Mac died. Louie and Phil survived on the raft until the 47th day.

On the 47th day, they spotted a boat. They were rescued by a Japanese boat. At first they were treated like kings. They received delicious food and water. Louie and Phil had lost almost half of their body weight while floating at sea. After a couple days on the boat, they were shipped off to another boat. The food was horrible and their bodies rejected it. Then Louie received horrible news. Louie and Phil were being taken to Kwajalein or Execution Island as called by the Americans. The most American soldiers were beheaded there than any other place. On Execution Island Louie was whipped, beat, and tortured. After two weeks on Execution Island, Louie and Phil were transported to Ofunu, a top-secret interrogation camp. In the camp, the prisoners were not allowed to look at each other or talk to each other. The captives secretly befriended each other and tried to develop a plan to escape. Phil was transported to a POW camp. Louie stayed at Ofuna for two years. Japan tried to use Louie as war propaganda against the American government. Japan offered him better living conditions if he agreed to say bad things against America. Louie refused. At the camp, there was one guard in particular who did not like Louie. This man was Mitsuhiro Wantanabe (aka The Bird). The bird hated Louie because he was jealous that Louie was an Olympic hero. Louie survived the camp because he didn't let the guards break him. When the war ended The Bird fled to the outskirts of Japan.

What really made Louie a hero was after the war. He suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. He became an alcoholic and smoked. He had nightmares about the Bird whipping him with his belt. He would wake up screaming and sweaty. If Louie became drunk enough, the images of the war would slip away for a second. The war never ended for Louie. His wife, Cynthia, begged Louie to get help. He tried to get help but it did nothing. Cynthia threatened to divorce Louie if he didn't change. He came up with one goal for his life. He was going to kill the Bird. Cynthia took Louie to a religious seminar where he met the Reverend Billy Graham. The reverend changed Louie's life. He taught Louie to forgive. Louie decided to go back to Japan to forgive the guards. When Louie arrived in Japan, he no longer wanted to kill anyone who had tortured him. He forgave everyone in the prison cell room. The Bird refused to see Louie. After he returned home, Louie became a motivational speaker. At 80 years old, he ran the Olympic torch relay in Nagano, Japan. Louie died on July 2, 2014. Louie Zamperini died at age 97. He is my hero because he forgave the people who tortured him. Forgiveness is one of the hardest things to do in life. Yet, Louie forgave the men, just like Jesus did before dying on the cross.