Louis Zamperini, Olympian And ‘Unbroken’ War Hero, Dies At 97

Louis Zamperini, a member of the 1936 United States Olympic track team and World War II survivor, passed away at the age of 97. His family said he had been ill with pneumonia.

Zamperini led a most extraordinary life, according to the New York Times. He participated in the 1936 Olympics, survived a plane crash and subsequent captivity in several Japanese prison camps. His ordeal became the novel Unbroken: A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience and Redemption written by Lauren Hillenbrand.

Zamperini was born in Olean, New York in 1917. His family moved to Southern California in 1919, where upon graduating from Torrance High School, Zamperini was accepted to the University of Southern California on a track scholarship. He then followed a long line of USC track stars who would represent the United States. Zamperini finished in eighth place in the 5,000 meter race, the top American finisher. After the race, he asked to meet, then asked for a picture with, Adolf Hitler.

“I was pretty naïve about world politics,” Mr. Zamperini said in an interview with the Times, “and I thought he looked funny, like something out of a Laurel and Hardy film, especially the way he stamped his feet and slapped his thighs.”

Zamperini returned from the Olympics, and in a few short years signed to be a bombardier in the South Pacific during World War II, according to NBC Los Angeles. While on a reconnaissance mission, Zamperini’s aircraft crashed into Japanese-controlled Pacific Ocean waters. Along with his fellow survivors — co-pilot, Second Lt. Russell Phillips and tail gunner, Sgt. Francis McNamara — he survived in a life raft for 47 days until being captured by the Japanese and taken to the Marshall Islands. Over the next two years, Zamperini and Phillips (McNamara died 33 days after the plane crash) were taken from one prison camp to another, suffering constant abuse and torture.

At home, Zamperini’s parents had been told he had perished in the war. Zamperini and other prisoners were liberated in 1945, and Zamperini went home to a hero’s welcome. Later, he would participate in the carrying of the torch for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. On his leg of the relay, he ran by Naoetsu, a snowy mountain range that had served as one of his prisons.

After numerous attempts, Unbroken is now being made into a movie by Angelina Jolie. Jolie called Zamperini’s death “a loss impossible to describe. We are all so grateful for how enriched our lives are for having known him,” Jolie said.