Louis Zamperini was a olympian who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and was scheduled to compete in the 1940 Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics was cancelled due to WWII. Zamperini due to the cancellation of the Olympic enrolled in the Army Air Corps. He was later captured by the Chinese and sent into one of their slave camps. Although Louis Zamperini had a very good childhood his life would later be changed, and do the event of him being captured, placed in a slave camp, and surviving, he was one of the most popular men known for his experiences. The paper will state the background of Louis Zamperini’s life. How he was when he was a child, to when he in high school, then to where he became a gold medalist in the olympics, and then to his unfortunate
…show more content…
Over the next two years, he suffered from disease, exposure, starvation, and near-daily beatings that were very deadly given to him by the Japanese guards that would watch over the camps. Japanese corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe, nicknamed “the Bird” by the POWs, Mutsuhiro also found humor in beating the runner up. During stints at the Omori and Naoetsu prison camps, Mutsuhiro pummeled Zamperini with clubs, belts, fists, and on a daily basis he threatened to kill Zamperini. One time he even had Zamperini hold a wooden beam above his head and told him he would shoot him if he dropped it. Another time, he forced Zamperini and other American prisoners to punch each other until they were all hit so much they were unconscious. Zamperini would relate to it saying,”We’d line up while each noncom was forced to walk down the line striking an officer with his fist. After each punch, the Bird shouted,“Next!” It became a maniacal chant: “Next-next-next...”When our men hit easy he’d club them on the head. We’d whisper, “Look, hit us once. Hard. Then we’d go down and Watanabe was satisfied. So were we, preferring to be hit by our own men than by anyone Japanese.” (Zamperini, Devil At My Heel, Page 158) Zamperini was so scared of Mutsuhiro he would later say he kept a watch out for him “Like I was looking for a lion loose
Over the next two years, he suffered from disease, exposure, starvation, and near-daily beatings that were very deadly given to him by the Japanese guards that would watch over the camps. Japanese corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe, nicknamed “the Bird” by the POWs, Mutsuhiro also found humor in beating the runner up. During stints at the Omori and Naoetsu prison camps, Mutsuhiro pummeled Zamperini with clubs, belts, fists, and on a daily basis he threatened to kill Zamperini. One time he even had Zamperini hold a wooden beam above his head and told him he would shoot him if he dropped it. Another time, he forced Zamperini and other American prisoners to punch each other until they were all hit so much they were unconscious. Zamperini would relate to it saying,”We’d line up while each noncom was forced to walk down the line striking an officer with his fist. After each punch, the Bird shouted,“Next!” It became a maniacal chant: “Next-next-next...”When our men hit easy he’d club them on the head. We’d whisper, “Look, hit us once. Hard. Then we’d go down and Watanabe was satisfied. So were we, preferring to be hit by our own men than by anyone Japanese.” (Zamperini, Devil At My Heel, Page 158) Zamperini was so scared of Mutsuhiro he would later say he kept a watch out for him “Like I was looking for a lion loose