Louis Zamperini was a boy who lived in Torrance, California. He had a Mother named Louise, and a brother named Pete. Pete was the good child, always helping others and being kind. He was as innocent as a lamb. Louis and Louise shared a love for breaking rules. Louis was very rambunctious.  He often would steal things or hurt others, often hurting himself in the process.

“One time I climbed onto a tall church tower, tied a strong steel wire to the bell and connected it to a tree, and roused police officers and firefighters! After that, I ran like mad,” said Louis.

Pete asked the principal to let Louis join a sport, thinking he could use his energy on the track, rather than using it for violence.

“No,” said the principal, who seemed to be as stern as an iron block.    

Pete then said, “Can you live with allowing Louis to fail?”

And the principal gave in. At first, Louis refused when Pete asked, but eventually a group of girls convinced Louis to run.

As Louis ran more, he became better and he began to win races. Eventually, he became so aggravated of being forced to run and he was also a bit mad over the fact that his dad wanted him to a chore that he did not want to do, that he ran away. He ran away to Los Angeles with his friends. They even jumped a train!!! After several days, he came back home and reluctantly, he told Pete, “Fine. I will be a runner and I will work as hard as I can. It will be my goal to be a fantastic runner.” He practiced every day.

Years later, Pete said, “a minute of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.”

Louis had a new goal, which was to compete in the Berlin Olympics. There was now someone he looked up to. This was Glenn Cunningham, who was a track runner that got badly burned in a fire and had difficulty even sitting up. Louis ran many races to qualify for the Olympics. His last race was against Don Lash, on the hottest summer in record for America. He was as fast as a cheetah. “If I have any strength left from the heat, I will beat the others and give Lash the scare of his life,” said Louis. They tied, going at the speed of light, and Louis was headed to the Olympics.

Louis came in 12th place at the Olympics in Germany, but amazingly, he run his last lap in just 56 seconds. He met Hitler there. Hitler said  “Ah, you’re the boy with the fast finish.” “Meanwhile, a war was blooming. Germany and Japan were at war. Then, the war started affecting Louis. Hitler had released armies upon Europe, and there was devastating war. The Olympics were then canceled, and Louis was as sad as Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh.

LAWS

CONGRESS

Congress passed a law that there would be a military draft, and all young men had to register. Louis joined the Air Corps. This meant he would be fighting in the air, where he could “be flying which was what he felt like he was doing when running,” as Louis described it. Louis was an air bomber for the Army. He was there for the bombing of Pearl Harbor (fighting against the Japanese). He saw a light brighter than 100 suns in the sky. Louis sent his mother his pilot wings. She wore them every morning and night.

Louis worked on a huge, ragged, and extremely HEAVY B-24 plane called Superman. The men wanted a B- 17, because B- 24s were really had to fly. Because they were so heavy, it was like wrestling a bear to keep the plane up in the air. Some called it the “Flying Coffin.” Although the were disappointed to get that plane, they grew connected to it. On that plane, they bombed Wake, a place where many Japanese people lived. The islands were mushrooms of fire. They won and got back just as their engines died. They were given medals. One day there was a very sad air raid, in which Superman got shot 594 times. There was a rescue mission that they had an order to go on.

They needed a new plane and were given the Green Hornet. Louis and his co-pilots were concerned that there were parts missing on the plane. Louis said, “I put on my life jacket, having an eerie feeling that something would go wrong.” They would be flying with a plane called Daisy Mae, as strong as an Ox compared to Green Hornet. This was so both planes could get to Palmyra safly, and there were more sets of eyes to find the people they were looking for. After taking off, the two planes got separated, and were flying without each other.