Louis Zamperini

Louis Zamperini

Zamperini in 1943
Personal information
Birth name	Louis Silvie Zamperini
Nicknames	Louie The Zamp[1] Torrance Tornado[2]
Born	(1917-01-26)January 26, 1917 Olean, New York, U.S.
Died	July 2, 2014(2014-07-02) (aged 97) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	USC
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	132 lb (60 kg)
Spouse	Cynthia Applewhite ​ ​ (m. 1946; died 2001)​
Children	2
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Track and field
Event	Middle-distance running
College team	University of Southern California
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	1936 Berlin: 5000 m – 8th
Personal best	800 m: 1:53.2 (1938) 1500 m: 3:52.6 (1939) 5000 m: 14:46.8 (1936) Mile run: 4:08.3 (1938) 4:07.6 i (1940)
Military career
Branch	U.S. Army Air Forces
Service years	1941–1946
Rank	Captain[3]
Unit	372nd Bomb Squadron[3]
Wars	World War II
Awards	Distinguished Flying Cross

Louis Silvie Zamperini (January 26, 1917 – July 2, 2014) was an American World War II veteran, an Olympic distance runner and a Christian evangelist. He took up running in high school and qualified for the United States in the 5,000 m race for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, finishing 8th while setting a new lap record in the process.

Zamperini was commissioned in the United States Army Air Forces as a lieutenant. He served as a bombardier on B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mission, his plane experienced mechanical difficulties and crashed into the ocean. After drifting at sea on a life raft for 47 days, with two other crewmates, Zamperini landed on the then Japanese Marshall Islands and was captured.

He was taken to a total of four different prisoner-of-war camps in Japan, where he was tortured and beaten by Japanese military personnel—specifically including Mutsuhiro Watanabe—because of Zamperini's status as a famous Olympic runner. He was later taken to a new prison camp at a coal factory, and after much hardship, he was finally released. Following the war he initially struggled to overcome his ordeal, afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism.

He later became a Christian evangelist with a strong belief in forgiveness. From 1952 onwards, he devoted himself to at-risk youth. Zamperini is the subject of three biographical films: Unbroken (2014), its sequel Unbroken: Path to Redemption (2018), and Captured by Grace (2015).