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HILLENBRAND, LAURA. UNBROKEN. FOURTH ESTATE LTD, 2018.

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Louis Zamperini was born on January 26, 1917 as the second oldest child in an Italian family. His mother was named Louise, and his father was called Anthony. As a child, he was very mischievous and rambunctious. He would steal anything edible and pull tricks on everyone he knew. His older brother, Pete, seemed to be the complete opposite but secretly, he did naughty things too. Things did not get much better for Louie as he got older. He became more violent and pursued more aggressive tasks such as almost beating a boy to death. He always sought out trouble wherever he could find it and did not obey a single order from anyone.

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Things were not turning around for Louie as he grew older. His brother, Pete, decided to encourage him to join the sport of track, in the hopes that it would propel him to do something better and more meaningful with his life. Little did he know that this would spark the beginning of Louie's incredible running career. Off the bat, Louie became obsessed with running, and he was skilled at it to. At such a young age, he broke national records and continued to beat his own record yearly. At the end of his senior year, he qualified for several Olympic categories in running. He even tied with Don Lash, a 23-year old runner record breaker, in the 5,000 meter race. He received recognition and praise from the media and the the people of his home town alike.

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Louie boarded a luxurious boat from Manhattan to Germany in order to attend the 1936 Olympics. He ate so much that he gains 12 pounds while on the boat. While running his section of the Olympics he became  slow and sluggish. He finished 7th but broke a record for running his last lap in 56 seconds. Afterwards, he spoke with Hitler who acknowledged the accomplishment. Then, when he returned home, he attended the University of Southern California. He continued to run in events such as the NCAA Championships, once injuring himself severely with puncture wounds and cracked ribs. World War II began soon after and the Olympics of 1940 were cancelled, Louie joined the Air Corps. He attempted to drop out soon after due to airsickness but his contracts forced him to stay. While at a theater, Louie was informed of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

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After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, America was paranoid and nervous for the next attack. Louie had just begun his training as a bombardier, or someone who sights and releases bombs from an aircraft.  He trains with two bombsights at Midland Army Flying School. In August of 1942, Louie graduates  and goes home to California to say goodbye to his family before heading off to his final round of training. Louie’s final training took place in Ephrata, Washington where he met pilot Russell Allen Phillip. Louie's crew earns the nickname "Flying Coffin". In around October, their training gets cut short and they are told they are going to be deployed. They name their plane "Superman"

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Louie's crew is sent to Kahuku, Hawaii, where they spent there first few days in complete boredom. They were eager for an attack.  Louie attempts to entertain himself by pulling pranks on his crew members. Then, three days before Christmas, the men are told to pack three days’ worth of clothing and to head to their planes. They head for Wake Atoll where the Japanese had set up a base. Louie's crew and 25 other planes drop 75,000 pounds of bombs and light the island into flames. Flying their aircrafts was dangerous business in itself, planes would go missing or malfunction often. The waters were also infested with sharks, and you had a high chance of being captured by the enemy. Rescue parties were rarely successful. All of this took it's toll on Louie and he began drinking to help suppress the thoughts.

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Louie's crew headed to the island of Canton which was surrounded by shark infested waters. On the day of the first mission, the Superman is the leading bomber. Japanese planes called Zeros were waiting for them, however, and began to fire at the American ships after they began to deploy bombs. When they were done, Louie attemptss to maneuver his plane back to base but they are followed by the Zeros. The planes began to fire at Louie and his crew, heavily injuring Pillsbury and Brooks. Pillsbury was able to take down one of Zeros despite being in substantial pain. The crew barely make it back, the Superman was severely damaged. Brooks passed away from his injuries days later.

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On the 27th day that the men had been lost at sea, they heard a plane flying above them. They assumed it was a rescue plane and began to try to get it's attention. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a Japanese bomber. The plane started to fire at the men, forced them to dive into the shark infested water and take cover under their rafts. They fought off the sharks by punching them. By the end of the attack, they all gathered on one raft that Phil had to patch up from the holes given by the Japanese bomber. The men decided to start hunting the sharks and eating their liver to survive. As the days passed, Mac's condition had gotten worse. He passes away one morning and Phil and Louie slid his body into the water. On the 40th day, Louie started to hear singing from the skies that Phil could not hear. On page 167 it claims, "He could hear singing. He kept listening; it sounded like a choir. He nudged Phil and asked him if he heard anything. Phil said no.¨ (Chapter 16) Finally, on the 46th day of being lost at sea, the men spot an island in the distance.

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After the attack at Canton, Louie and his crew returned to the island of Funafuti. At about 3 am, he woke up to the sound of a small plane. Little did he know, these were Japanese bombers. They started to attack the island, the natives and soldiers of the island scattered in attempt to find cover. On page 108, it states, "Men's eardrums burst. A man died of a heart attack. Another man's arm was severed. Others sobbed, prayed, and lost control of their bowels." (Chapter 10) It was a horrible night, members of his crew died or were severely injured. The Superman was destroyed. Louie was then transferred to a station in Oahu. One day, he is told that he is part of a search mission for Clarence Corpening, who's plane never landed. They boarded the Green Hornet, a plane that barely worked. Mid-flight, an engine failed and miscommunication between the crew members caused the plane to begin crashing. It smacked into the water and Louie is pulled down. Luckily, he was able to escape the cabin and float to the surface.

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Louie finds that 2 men from the search crew also survived, Phil and Mac. Louie was able to get a raft from the plane for the trio. When they board it, Louie saw that the 2 are seriously injured, mostly Phil. They live off of chocolate and small rations of water. They have little basic supplies and no way to obtain more water. To make matters worse, sharks began to circle their raft. As time passed, the people on the island realized that Louie and his crew had gone missing. They sent another search party. However, when the planes flew over Louie they could not see his flare signals. After a week, they are officially declared missing and letters are sent home to his family. Louie, Phil, and Mac continued to struggle to survive. They collected the rain water to drink and ate birds and fish. Louie and Phil decided to keep each other occupied and from going insane. They engaged in quizzes and talk about their pasts to keep their mind fresh.

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Louie and Phil rode their rafts to what they thought was the island. However, the island turned out to be a Japanese ship. The soldiers on the ship bring the 2 aboard and treat them very harshly. Only the commander treated them with respect and fed them. They were also taken to an infirmary to assess their health. Later, Phil and Louie get transferred to Kwajalein island. On page 173, the officer explains to Louie, "'After you leave here,' Louie would long remember the officer saying,'we cannot guarantee your life.'" (Chapter 17) Their arrival at the island would start the period of great misery and anguish. They are kept in wooden cells. Louie was physically weak and dehydrated and often got taunted or abused by the guards. Phil experiences his own troubles and both of them get subjected to experimentation and interrogation. Louie's only other friend was a single guard named Kawamura. The only thing that gave Louie hope was the singing that he continued to hear.

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After spending time on the island, they are told they will be transferred to a POW camp.  To Louie's surprise, once he arrived he is taken to a room where his old college friend, Jimmie Sasaki sat. He was informed that his friend was in charge of interrogating POWs in Japan. Later on, he was taken to compound with high fences. The conditions were terrible; they lived in cells, got abused, and were forced to do exhausting work. Many of the prisoners had diseases. Louie decided to become friends with a man named William Harris. He also learns that the prisoners have created a system of communication that uses hand gestures and Morse code since they are forced into silence. This is one of the many things that the prisoners do to defy their captors. On page 103 it describes, "Beneath the hush was a humming underground of defiance." (Chapter 20The winter months created even more unbearable conditions at the compound. Once the guards learned of Louie's running history, they make him race against a Japanese runner. When Louie won, he was beaten by the guards. In March, Phil gets transferred to a different POW camp.

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Back at camp, the POW's were cheered up by seeing a B-29 American plane fly over them. The Bird, however was much less thrilled and beat Louie's head, he temporarily caused Louie to lose hearing. One day, he is given an opportunity to make a statement on a radio show, he wrote a brief message for his family. Lynn Moody, an old classmate of Louie heard the message and informed his family. Later on, they ask Louie to say another message for Japan's propaganda. This time they wrote the message for him but he refuses, even when they bribed him. The author describes in Chapter 27, "They brought him to a cafeteria and served him a delicious American-style meal, then took him to a private living area that had beds with mattresses and sheets. If Louie would make the broadcast, the producers said , he could live here, and he'd never have to see Omori again." (Page 261). Next, insight on Phil's awful situation at Zentsuji POW camp is given. Things finally seem to turn around for Louie when the Red Cross sent relief packages to his camp and the Bird gets transferred to a different facility.

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Every Zamperini back at home were worried and stressed about Louie, the lack of knowledge of his whereabouts greatly affected the family members.  When Americans captured Kwajalein, they find Louie's name etched on the wood in his old cell. So, Jon Deasy back on Oahu was informed and now knew that 2 of the soldiers had survived the Green Hornet crash. Where were Louie and Phil now, was the question Deasy needed to answer. Despite this information, after 13 months to the date that the plane crashed, all of the crewmen aboard it were declared dead, including Louie and Phil. However, their families still remained hopeful after being told this. Back at the POW camp, Louie and his newly made friends, William and Frank develop escape plans. They steal a map that William quickly memorizes. However, he is caught with it and gets badly beaten by the guards. Soon after this, Louie is told that he will be moved to a different camp, along with Frank and a few other men.

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Once they were at Omori, they meet a man named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, whom they call "The Bird". The Bird seemed to have a certain hatred for Louie, he beats him on the first day. Before the Bird was in charge of the camp, it use to be a slave camp. The guards were a lot kinder to the prisoners. Louie later on meets 2 men named Tom Wade and Bob Martindale who inform him more about the camp. He learns about another camp commander who is less aggressive than the Bird,named Kaname Sakaba. He is told that some workers at the camp are willing to help out the prisoners. In October of 1944, the Japanese send out a false broadcast message meant for Louie's family that was supposed to be written by him. It stated that he was doing well in a camp in Tokyo.

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In early 1945, some of Louie's old friends joined him at the camp, this and the fact that the Bird was gone made life more tolerable for Louie. They heard about American victories but also know there are mass killings of POWs. The men were then taken to a different camp in a different part of Japan in February of that year. Louie was shocked when he saw the Bird waiting for him. The condition there were worse than the last camp, the facility was not built for the cold weather. There were holes in the roof and it was crawling with rats. It was filled with mostly Australian POW's. Louie injured his leg after getting knocked off a ramp by a guard and the Bird forced him to clean the pig sty since he was not fit to work outside with the other men. Louie continued to survive the Bird's torment and cruelty by praying and thinking about the Olympics. Japan seemed to be losing the war but Louie was worried that he might soon be executed with the other POW's.

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B-29's continued to fly over the camp which enraged the Bird. He started punishing the men, especially Louie who was already sick and starving. The POW's created a plan to kill the Bird who planned to also execute Louie. However, On August 15 a civilian tells the men at the camp that the war was over. Louie is given a bunch of letters and photographs from his family. On August 20, they see an American plane displaying the message that the war was officially over in Morse code. On Page 306 it states, "The plane's red code light was blinking rapidly. A radioman in the water near Louie read the signals and suddenly cried out: 'Oh! The war is over!'" (Chapter 31). The men at the camp receive supplies and a magazine displaying the bomb at Hiroshima.

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At home, Louie is experiencing PTSD and continues to have nightmares about the Bird. He was uneasy and haunted by the pain he experienced as a POW. He resorted to drinking and hiking to help ease the trauma. One day on Miami Beach, he met a beautiful woman named Cynthia Applewhite whom he decided to marry that same month. Cynthia's parents were very opposed to the marriage but they decided to do it anyway on May 25 of that year. They kept contact by sending letters since Louie lived in California. He quickly put his life back together ad got a job at Warner Studios. They got an apartment together in part of Hollywood. One day, Louie was training to hopefully prepare for the Olympics again but he injured his ankle. He realized he could not participate and returned to his bad habits, his nightmares of the Bird return. On Page 351 it explains, "Louie was wrecked. The quest that had saved him as a kid lost to him. The last barricade within him fell." (Chapter 35).

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The Bird acted like a farmer in order to escape punishments from the American soldiers looking for him. He is later reported dead next to a woman on a mountain summit. Back at California, Louie is focused on getting revenge on the Bird. Cynthia attempted to get Louie to stop drinking as well as fix his other bad habits but it doesn't work. They have have a baby later on but this still doesn't deter Louie's drinking problem. Cynthia resorted to filing a divorce.

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On August 22 of that same year, Phil was informed that the war is over. Planes drop supplies and a surplus of food at the camps. The men celebrated and even shared the fruit and vegetables with Japanese civilians. The celebration continued on the train ride to Yokohama where they met with the Red Cross. Louie is told all the statistics of the soldiers that passed away during the war. On September 9th, Pete sees a headline that proved Louie was alive. On Page 324, it states, "The headline sad it all: Zamperini Comes Back From Dead." (Chapter 33). Later, Louie got on his way back home but was hospitalized by the American military in Honolulu. Phil, however, was reunited with his family in Indiana.

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Louie opened a camp for boys and told his story around the world. He received many awards and was able to carry the Olympic torch multiple times. He returned to Japan in 1998 for the Olympic games and learned, despite what people said, that the Bird was still alive. Louie attempted to send a letter to him but the Bird refused. The Bird passed away in 2003. Louie's story ends with him holding the torch in the Japanese landscape. On page 397 it states, "At last, it was time. Louie extended his hand, and in it was placed the Olympic torch." (Epilogue)