In late May 1943, the B-24 carrying the 26-year-old Zamperini went down over the Pacific. For nearly seven weeks — longer, Hillenbrand believes, than any other such instance in recorded history — Zamperini and his pilot managed to survive on a fragile raft. They traveled 2,000 miles, only to land in a series of Japanese prison camps, where, for the next two years, Zamperini underwent a whole new set of tortures. His is one of the most spectacular odysseys of this or any other war, and “odyssey†is the right word, for with its tempests and furies and monsters, many of them human, Zamperini’s saga is something out of Greek mythology.

For you sports minded folks, that name might sound familiar.

Zamperini grew up in Torrance, Calif., and thanks partly to a bout of juvenile delinquency — he became adept at breaking into homes, then fleeing the police — he developed into a world-class runner. He ran the 5,000 meters at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (even Hitler commented on him) and later, at the University of Southern California, flirted with a four-minute mile.

There is more at the NYT article, and if you like what you are reading there, you might want to check out Laura Hillenbrand's new novel, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.

 

 

More here.

 

Hat tip PowerLine.

 

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