Unbroken

After the Berlin Olympics, Louie’s story shifts to his years at the University of Southern California. There, Louie befriended a mysterious Japanese émigré named Kunichi James Sasaki. However, Jimmie “wasn’t what he seemed” (40.

As Louie’s athletic prowess grew, so did the insolence of his competitors. At an NCAA competition, he was boxed in, severely elbowed, and sliced with spikes by other runners’ cleats. He eventually managed to break free from the torture, win the race, and clock the “fastest NCAA mile in history” (41), a record that stuck for fifteen years. His sights were clearly set on the 1940 Olympics in Japan; however, the games were shifted to Finland due to the failing Japanese economy.

While describing how Louie’s college and running career was moving forward, Hillenbrand breaks from the narration to provide more historical context around the beginning of World War II. She describes the attitude of Japan, quoting Chikuhei, a Japanese politician, who described Japan as “the sole superior race of the world” (43). In 1937, Japan invaded China, and in 1939, Germany invaded Poland; in 1940, the blitzkrieg across Europe began, and the 1940 Olympics were cancelled. In more ways than one, Louie’s dream of medaling in the Olympics came to an end.

Louie signed up for military service in early 1941. Despite admitting to a fear of heights, he was trained as a bombardier and was enlisted in the Army Air Corps. 

Hillenbrand provides details and statistics regarding the very real dangers Louie and his flight crewmembers faced. Their plane, the B-24 Liberator, was also granted the ominous nickname, “The Flying Coffin,” because so many deaths took place during training exercises. The B-24 was an enormous flying machine and very difficult to fly. Hillenbrand introduces Russell Allan Phillips (“Phil”), the pilot in the flight crew, as well as other members of the team. Naming planes was a “grand tradition” (63), and, according to Phil, George Moznette suggested the name Superman and it stuck. After training for some time in Washington, Louie was sent overseas to Hawaii in November of 1942 for further airman training.

Louie’s squadron was sent to the Kahuku air base. While waiting for action, Louie and his crew engaged in shenanigans. Louie’s childhood mischievous reputation returned, and when the Colonel came upon any sort of trouble, he asserted that “Zamperini must have been involved” (67). There was not a lot of combat to keep the men occupied. There was some training and a few sea searches, but most of the time was passed with a lot of practical joking.

Louie’s team had great bombing accuracy, but, as most of their time was spent completing “intensely dull” sea searches, they found other ways to entertain themselves. Once, they fired at a pod of whales, but their weapons did not harm the whales. The men learned that “the bullets [...] carried a lethal speed for only a few feet after entering the water. One day, this would be very useful knowledge” (68).

The flight crew’s first mission took place just before Christmas in 1942. They had to dive bomb a Japanese base on Wake Atoll and had faced retaliation from Japanese Zero bombers. Only one American bomb missed its target, and all twenty-six B-24 bombers returned safely. Half of the Japanese personnel were killed. As they flew away, Wake Atoll was “a sea of fire and running men” (75).