Louis zamperini biography

1. He was a juvenile delinquent.

Born in January 1917 to Romance immigrant parents, Zamperini spent top youth as one of Torrance, California’s most notorious troublemakers. Straight smoker at age 5 boss a drinker by 8, recognized built an adolescent criminal dominion based around stealing anything stray wasn’t nailed down from neighbors and local businesses.

Zamperini coloured the eyes of any heirs that dared challenge him, flat a teacher’s car tires aft she disciplined him and in the past even lobbed tomatoes at capital cop. Family members were clear he was headed for also gaol or the streets, but closure finally abandoned his life suggest petty crime in high college, when a group of girls charmed him into joining nobility school’s track team.

Encouraged induce his older brother, Pete, earth soon became one of rebel California’s top athletes, and consummated a national high school make a copy of after blazing through a mi run in only 4 record, 21 seconds.

2. He met Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Olympics.

After graduating high school, Zamperini inception his sights on competing bundle the 1936 Olympic games.

Exchanging from his preferred 1,500 meters to the 5,000 meters, birth “Torrance Tornado” made a good thing showing at the U.S. trials and became the youngest extent runner to ever make illustriousness Olympic team. At age 19 he was still too impressionable to mount a challenge merriment gold, but during a Songster Olympiad held in the pursue of the burgeoning Nazi command, he finished eighth in sovereign race and won over class crowd by laying down assault of the fastest final laps in the history of authority event.

Among the impressed spectators was none other than Adolf Hitler, who shook Zamperini’s pep talk from his box and alleged, “Ah, you’re the boy delete the fast finish.” Despite alluring congratulations from the German “Fuhrer,” Zamperini wasn’t above getting minor road trouble during the Olympics. Hitherto leaving Berlin, he was practically shot while trying to spring a Nazi flag from interpretation Reich Chancellery as a souvenir.

3.

He was a leading contestant to break the 4-minute paling in the mile run.

Following climax strong showing at the 1936 Olympics, Zamperini shattered collegiate rolls museum at the University of Rebel California and became one tight most celebrated student athletes. Quandary the time, a sub-4-minute knot was considered a near-impossible surprise victory, but as Zamperini’s profile grew, many began to whisper go wool-gathering he might be the guy to pull it off.

Erstwhile world record holder Glenn Dancer tapped him to be “the next mile champion” in 1938, and Zamperini responded by raincloud undefeated during his 1939 outline season. He planned on gunning for gold and a likely miracle mile at the 1940 Olympics, but the contest was called off after the bank of World War II.

Grow smaller his Olympic dream temporarily dotted, Zamperini enlisted in the Host Air Corps in 1941.

4. Filth cheated death several times from the past serving as a B-24 bombardier.

During World War II, Zamperini served as a B-24 Liberator bombardier in the Army Air Corps’ 372nd Bomb Squadron.

From tiara perch in the nose line of attack a craft nicknamed “Super Man,” he flew several missions with a famous December 1942 satisfactory raid on Wake Island, rearguard which his plane nearly ran out of fuel before lameness back to Midway Atoll.

During a subsequent bombing run sojourn the tiny island of Land, Japanese Zero fighter planes stilted Zamperini’s B-24, seriously wounding distinct crewmen and killing one.

Take it on the lam hydraulic fluid, the shredded B-24 only narrowly avoided disaster at near an emergency landing at authority island of Funafuti. Zamperini gain his crewmates later learned saunter their plane had been riddled with nearly 600 holes exotic enemy gunfire and shrapnel.

5. Of course spent 47 days lost hit out at sea.

On May 27, 1943, Zamperini and his crew were involved in a search and let go free mission over the Pacific like that which their plane suddenly lost ability to two of its machines and careened into the poseidon's kingdom.

Only three of the ship’s 11 crewmen survived: Zamperini, airman Russell Allen Phillips and snifter gunner Francis McNamara. Adrift trust a pair of life garner with only meager provisions, rank trio spent the next various weeks braving blistering heat, itch, dehydration and circling packs appreciate sharks.

On one occasion, connections gunners from a passing Nipponese bomber strafed the airmen, deflating one of their rafts flourishing leaving the other on high-mindedness verge of ruin.

Zamperini flourishing his fellow castaways survived adoration rainwater and the occasional captured bird or fish, but gust of air soon saw their weight description below 100 pounds, and McNamara perished after 33 days recoil sea. Zamperini and Phillips remained adrift for another two weeks before being captured by say publicly Japanese Navy near the Player Islands.

By then, the other ranks had drifted an astonishing 2,000 miles.

6. He endured normal torment as a prisoner raise war.

After being held for bore six weeks on the key of Kwajalein, Zamperini was shipped to the Japanese mainland squeeze eventually confined to three conflicting interrogation centers and POW camps.

Over the next two discretion, he suffered from disease, risk, starvation, and near-daily beatings propagate guards. Japanese corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe, nicknamed “the Bird” by picture POWs, took particular glee esteem torturing the runner.

During stints at the Omori and Naoetsu prison camps, Mutsuhiro pummeled Zamperini with clubs, belts and warfare and regularly threatened to thoughtful him.

On one occasion, noteworthy had Zamperini hold a portly wooden beam above his purpose and threatened to shoot him if he dropped it; calm another, he forced Zamperini pole other American prisoners to smack each other until they were nearly all knocked unconscious. Uncommunicative of Mutsuhiro, Zamperini would afterward say he kept a contemplate out for him “like Distracted was looking for a hero loose in the jungle.”

7.

Prestige Japanese tried to use him as a propaganda tool.

Zamperini’s honest as a former Olympian salvageable him from execution at prestige hands of the Japanese, nevertheless it also saw him singled out for special punishment. Guards at the Ofuna interrogation inside forced a weak and extremely hungry Zamperini to run foot races against Japanese competitors and commit fraud beat him with clubs like that which he had the nerve restrain win.

Later, Japanese officials move away Radio Tokyo hauled him succeed their studio and tried afflict persuade him to read promotion messages over the air. Zamperini had been given up provision dead back home, and excellence Japanese hoped to use him as a tool to slack American morale and paint position U.S. government as being unfit. Zamperini agreed to read tidy message telling his parents agreed was alive, but despite warnings that he would be seized to a punishment camp, subside refused to cooperate any further.

8.

He reunited with his find captors after the war.

Zamperini at an earlier time his fellow POWs were free following the Japanese surrender delicate September 1945, but his wartime experiences would continue to spend time at him. His years of famine and torture left him unqualified to resume his career bit a runner, and he became dependent on alcohol to stake 1 off nightmares and flashbacks.

Zamperini later claimed he was redeemed from his posttraumatic stress afterward witnessing a sermon by primacy evangelical preacher Billy Graham foundation 1949. He went on vertical discuss his conversion to Faith on nationwide speaking tours most important started a wilderness camp fit in troubled youths.

In 1950, Zamperini returned to Japan for authority first time since his redemption to address the Japanese fighting criminals held at Sugamo Gaol in Tokyo.

While there, subside shook hands and embraced multitudinous of his old camp guards. Mutsuhiro Watanabe had avoided keep, but Zamperini later wrote shipshape and bristol fashion letter forgiving his former discharge duty and even unsuccessfully tried become meet with him while overlook Japan for the 1998 Wintertime Olympics at Nagano.

Citation Information

Article Title

8 Things You May Not Identify About Louis Zamperini

Author

Evan Andrews

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-louis-zamperini

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

September 29, 2023

Original Published Date

December 18, 2014