Laura Hillenbrand wrote Unbroken over the course of 7 years, and 70+ interviews, the biography of an extraordinary U.S. Army Air Force officer, Louie Zamperini, who was shot down over the Pacific, chased by sharks while floating for more than a month on a raft, and imprisoned in a hellish Japanese POW camp. Amazingly, the guy survived it all and lived to 93. Before the war, he was a track start that set a record in the 1936 Olympics
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20440835,00.html
Zamperini was a world-class distance runner by the time he graduated from Torrance High School. His athleticism won him a track scholarship to USC, and at 19 years old, a spot on the 1936 US Olympic team.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/07/03/louis-zamperini-1936-olympian-world-war-ii-pow-dies-at-97/
This piece and a recent piece about John Penton ( http://selvedgeyard.com/2014/06/26/penton-the-john-penton-story-from-the-woods-to-the-world/)in the Selvedgeyard make me feel like a complete pussy. Very impressive guys. My Dad was in the same theatre (South Pacific) during the War and he just recently dies at 93 years of age. This piece reminded me of the horrors that they experienced.
ReplyDeleteMike
http://meditarivemachinery.blogspot.com/