Louie Zamperini's Early Life

Unbroken is a biography by Laura Hillenbrand about the life of Louis Zamperini. The story begins with Louis’ early life, growing up in Torrance, California. In high school, Louie began running for his high school track team, and broke the high school national record for the one-mile run. He competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and was drafted into the Army Air Corps in WWII. On a mission, his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and two others survived with him.

“A lot of times I find that people who are blessed with the most talent don't ever develop that attitude, and the ones who aren't blessed in that way are the most competitive and have the biggest heart.” In Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction book Unbroken, the competitive spirit of Louis Zamperini is demonstrated when, against all odds Louis goes, from being a thief as a kid to competing in the Olympics in Berlin. Tragically as a young adult during World War II his bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean Louis’s future started to head for the worst as he was stranded for 47 days. Needless to say it was Louis's own competitive spirit that allowed him to live to tell this unforgettable story.

Louie and his pilot, Phil, survived

Zamperini did many bad things, as he got older he started

During World War ll, only 27 % of POWs held in the Japanese Camps did not survive incarceration. Louie Zamperini,however, did, but it wasn't easy for him and the POWs at the camps. Louie Zamperini spent most of his time in World War ll as a POW, or Prisoner Of War in the Japanese camps. While being a prisoner he faced many challenges. American POWs that were held captive by the Japanese in the deadliest camps face dehumanization and isolation in many forms and once enough is enough they resist in order to get their dignity back.

On March second Tinker and Louie were taken to Naoetsu, sadly the Bird was sent there as well. On August 20 Louie finds out that the war is over, and on September 5 he and all the other captives are sent home (Phil also finds out, and is sent home). Now that the war was over Louie decided he wanted to settle down. Saturday May 25, 1945 Louie marries a lovely woman named Cynthia. Since his marriage Louie has gone to prisons to see the guards that abused him started a victory boy’s camp for troubled boys, and carried the Olympic torch before five different games.

Louie Zamperini went through more pain and suffering than most people will ever endure in their entire life. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis Zamperini was an Olympic runner. He was drafted during World War II . During the war, his plane crashed in the middle of the ocean and he was stranded with little resources to survive. This book follows his incredible story battling starvation and abuse in Prisoner of War camps (POW).

She did an absolutely wonderful job of creating this time period with just her words and it’s one of my favorite things about this book. The As a boy, Louie Zamperini was always in trouble, but with the help of his older brother, he turned his life around and channeled his energy into running. He set his first record in high school, “He ran a field of milers off their feet, stopping the watches in 5:03. Three seconds faster than Pete’s record. ”(17)

The love for his country is exemplified by the way fulfilled his duties with total dedication, and competence. Other characters that sets Louie apart is his optimism , courage,and fearlessness as a warrior. Throughout the entire story, Louie knew he could get away with anything(He felt invincible) The book describes the true story of the overwhelming odds ,and terror of war that Louie must face with his fellow soldiers Mac, and Phil.

Louie Zamperini was stranded in the middle of the ocean, on a raft for 47 days, then endured over 2 abusive years in POW camps. Louie was born a troublemaker and became a troublesome boy, but his brother, Pete, led him into the career of running, which loomed in his life until he passed. Later, he enlisted into the army and his bomber went down, Louie and Phil made it to Japanese camps, unlike the third crewmate, and luckily survived the harsh treatments of the camps for 2 years. Louie came back to America and decided to live his life to the fullest and take nothing for granted. In the novel Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, she uses Louie’s real life experiences to show his two most important traits: courageousness and determination.

At the Olympics, Zamperini finished eighth but caught the eye of Adolf Hitler who later shook his hand. This all shows that Louis Zamperini triumphed over adversity by getting away from his tough neighborhood and he quit smoking and drinking to become an Olympic athlete and an inspiration to

The men became especially weary of him, and when he ventured too close, one of them would jab him with an oar” (Hillenbrand, 2010, P. 141). Although most of the time on the raft was spent dreaming of land, Louie knew that in order for them to stay sane they needed to talk to each other. " … Louie turned the raft into a nonstop quiz show” (Hillenbrand, 2010, P. 145). Louie was the main reason that he and his other survivor made it to land sane as could be

The crew turned into 4 men without a plane, so they got several replacement crewmen. However,

Although the guys insisted there were no planes available, the lieutenant had them take the B-24 Green Hornet. “There was only one ship, the Green Hornet,” “We were very reluctant, but Phillips finally gave in for the rescue mission”( Hillenbrand 96). After taking flight, the plane began to experience engine problems and began to go down. The men prepared for crash landing into the Pacific Ocean. Louie, Phil and Mac survived the crash, but were stranded on a raft.

The three-time United States Track and Field Olympic champion, Gail Devers once said, “Sometimes we fall, sometimes we stumble, but we can’t stay down. We can’t allow life to beat us down. Everything happens for a reason, and it builds character in us, and it tells us what we are about and how strong we really are when we didn’t think we could be that strong.” In the non-fiction book Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, protagonist Louis Zamperini demonstrates his everlasting perseverance through his everyday actions. Like Devers believed, the resilient Zamperini refused to be defeated or demoralized and did everything in his power to keep his feet on the ground and his chin up.