I like a good hero story.
Most of my favorite hero stories come from the generation that lived during World War Two. It isn't just because they fought a war to stop the spread of Hitler's regime across Europe, nor is it because they liberated the Jews from the horrors of the concentration camps and restored nations. It is because of the decisions that many of them made during and after the war to be selfless and heroic on and off the battlefield. A great book full of short stories of men and women who acted out this heroism is The Greatest Generation.
Their battlefield victories only make up a small part of this book; the rest is about their lives after the war. It is full of stories of men and women who refused to be ordinary, but embraced life to the fullest. That is the kind of hero story that I like.
Then I came across the book called Unbroken. The man Louis Zamperini that this book is about embodies the ultimate World War 2 hero, and it wasn't just because of his courageous actions in the midst of a hail of gunfire, it was because of his survival, resilience, and most importantly redemption that makes his story one that stands out.
Here is my short preview
Louis Zamperini was the small California town's terror. He was always getting in fights, stealing from his neighbors, and generally getting into trouble. Finally, his parents had enough, and so they decided to put his excessive energy into something of use. They signed him up for sports. He instantly excelled, and by the time he was in high school, he was competing with college age students in track and field and beating them. He continued his running carrer and eventually qualified to go the the 1940 Olympic Games where he met Adolf Hitler. Though not directly, Hitler would have a huge impact on the rest of Louis life.
Months passed, and shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Louis enlisted in the military. He ended up as a bomber in the Air Force and was stationed in the Pacific. He had several close calls as he was a part of many of the major bomb runs in the pacific, but there was one day that would change his life forever.
His crew was going out on a search and rescue mission, but because their usual plane was getting repaired, they had to take out an older, different model plane than they were used to. While they were searching, one of their engines failed and the plane went down. What would follow was almost three years of captivity in a Japanese POW camp.
What makes this story incredible to me is that after Louis experienced enough horrors to last a lifetime, he found redemption. Here is an excerpt from the book.
"In Sugamo prison [the prison where all of his former captors were being held and serving time], as he [Zamperini] was told of Watanabe's [his captor's] fate, all Louis saw was a lost person, a life now beyond redemption. He felt something that he had never felt for his captor before. With a shiver of amazement, he realized that it was compassion. At that moment, something shifted sweetly inside him. It was forgiveness, beautiful and effortless and complete. For Louis Zamperini, the war was over."
Louis' return home after his family had thought him dead for nearly two years.
Then I came across the book called Unbroken. The man Louis Zamperini that this book is about embodies the ultimate World War 2 hero, and it wasn't just because of his courageous actions in the midst of a hail of gunfire, it was because of his survival, resilience, and most importantly redemption that makes his story one that stands out.
Here is my short preview
Louis Zamperini was the small California town's terror. He was always getting in fights, stealing from his neighbors, and generally getting into trouble. Finally, his parents had enough, and so they decided to put his excessive energy into something of use. They signed him up for sports. He instantly excelled, and by the time he was in high school, he was competing with college age students in track and field and beating them. He continued his running carrer and eventually qualified to go the the 1940 Olympic Games where he met Adolf Hitler. Though not directly, Hitler would have a huge impact on the rest of Louis life.
Months passed, and shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Louis enlisted in the military. He ended up as a bomber in the Air Force and was stationed in the Pacific. He had several close calls as he was a part of many of the major bomb runs in the pacific, but there was one day that would change his life forever.
His crew was going out on a search and rescue mission, but because their usual plane was getting repaired, they had to take out an older, different model plane than they were used to. While they were searching, one of their engines failed and the plane went down. What would follow was almost three years of captivity in a Japanese POW camp.
What makes this story incredible to me is that after Louis experienced enough horrors to last a lifetime, he found redemption. Here is an excerpt from the book.
"In Sugamo prison [the prison where all of his former captors were being held and serving time], as he [Zamperini] was told of Watanabe's [his captor's] fate, all Louis saw was a lost person, a life now beyond redemption. He felt something that he had never felt for his captor before. With a shiver of amazement, he realized that it was compassion. At that moment, something shifted sweetly inside him. It was forgiveness, beautiful and effortless and complete. For Louis Zamperini, the war was over."
Louis' return home after his family had thought him dead for nearly two years.
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