Back in May I attended an event where the speaking guest was Louis Zamperini. A native of Torrance, California, he was an Olympic runner in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and was greeted by Adolph Hitler when he placed. It wasn’t long after World War Two would be in full swing and Zamperini volunteered and became a B-24 bombardier.

In 1943 his aircraft crashed and he spent the remainder of the war as a Japanese POW. Barely surviving treatment by the infamous “The Bird,” he would later meet Billy Graham, forgive the Japanese, and spend his life inspiring others to live Christianly.

Back to the event… Louis spoke to the crowd and handful of young ROTC about his experiences in the War. Albeit, a bit hard of hearing at the age of 90, his mind is sharp and he can still tell a good story. His book, Devil at My Heels, has gotten the attention of Laura Hillenbrand (of Seabiscuit fame) with rumors of seeing the silver screen.

Check out the gallery for stills of Zamperini working the crowd.

Related posts:

• Attack on Pearl Harbor as told by a survivor

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