Louis Zamperini

Louis Zamperini is best known for Laura Hillenbrand's book "Unbroken: A WWII Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption".Zamperini's life started out hard. Born to Italian immigrants in New York, his family moved to Torrance, California when Louis was a toddler. At the time Louie knew no English, making him the perfect target for bullies.With a string of luck, Louie's older brother Pete got him into running. He set tons of records, and eventually made his way to the 1936 Berlin Olympics in the 5,000 meters at age 19, being the youngest U.S. qualifier for that event.While training for the 1940 Olympics, WWII broke out and Louie became a second lieutenant. Deployed as a bombardier, their plane was badly damaged and crashed. Louie and his friend Russell Allen Phillips survived in an inflated raft for 47 days, with no food, and occasional rain water.Louie and Phil landed on the Marshall Islands, and were taken prisoner by the Japanese. They remained prisoners for two years, until the end of the war.For a while after the war, Louie became a war hero. Soon after, however, memories of his life in captivity continued to haunt him until he was brought to Christ through one of Billy Graham's sermons.Louie dedicated his life to Christ, became a motivational speaker, and began helping troubled youth.