book review: "Unbroken"...

... by Laura Hillenbrand. You probably saw the movie that was based on the book. Same title. One of the best I've read recently, and an amazing story. The subtitle: 'A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.'

Louie Zamperini was probably headed towards incarceration until he took up running. He was a rascal as a kid, and according Hillebrand's story probably incorrigible as a adolescent and in his early teens. His older brother encouraged him to run, get involved in track in high school, serving as his 'trainer' and forcing him to continue to run when Louie wanted to quit.  He was so good he won numerous state awards, and competed in the Olympics the year they were held in Germany when Jesse Owens was a participant.

Louie volunteered for service when the US entered the war, and was trained as a bombadier. He was sent to the Pacific, and his crew went down during a search and rescue mission. Louie and the pilot and one other crew member survived the ditching, spending days on a small raft floating towards Japan. The other crewman died at sea, Louie and the pilot were captured and spent years in POW camps on small islands, being starved and tortured. A horrendous tale of mistreatment and abuse. Many POWs were used as forced labor, often injured, with no medical care, and insufficient food to keep them healthy, insufficient clothing, shoes, blankets for snowy winters. Many just disappeared, with no records kept of deaths, burials.

As the Japanese began to realize they were loosing the war, they received orders to kill all the captives, and many were put to death. Louie and others in the camp where he was held were eventually found, rescued, and returned to the US, though many families had assumed they were dead. They often took months to recover from illnesses and starvation rations, as well as the physical and mental abuse suffered at the hands of their cruel captors. 

It is a remarkable story. Well researched, with lots of first hand interviews. Numerous quotes by fellow service men, as well as Zamperini, who the author spoke with many times. Louie was a remarkable man, a survivor in every sense of the word. He, as did many if not all, veterans struggled to adjust to life back in the states, having war time experiences many could never grasp or fully understand. But he managed to overcome his personal demons, turn his years of  being a POW into a story people wanted to hear. He spent many years traveling, telling audiences the story of his amazing life.