Louis Zamperini The Torrance Tornado

Louis Zamperini 1917 2014 Triumph of The Torrance Tornado
Louis Silvie "Louie" Zamperini (January 26, 1917 – July 2, 2014) was a US prisoner of war survivor in World War II, a Christian evangelist and an Olympic distance runner.
Zamperini took up running in high school and qualified for the US in the 5000m race for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He finished 8th in the event and made the record for the fastest last lap in 56 seconds. In 1941 he was commissioned into the United States Army Air Forces as a Lieutenant. He served as a bombardier in B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. On a search and rescue mission, mechanical difficulties forced Zamperini's plane to crash in the ocean. After drifting at sea for 46-47 days (island spotted on the 46th, and arrived on 47th) he landed on the Japanese occupied Marshall Islands and was captured. He was taken to a prison camp in Japan where he was tortured. Following the war he initially struggled to overcome his ordeal. Later he became a Christian Evangelist with a strong belief in forgiveness. Zamperini is the subject of two biographical films, the 2014 Unbroken and the 2015 Captured by Grace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zamperini
Zamperini was born January 26, 1917 in Olean, New York, to Anthony Zamperini and Louise Dossi, both native to Verona in Northern Italy. He had an older brother named Pete and two younger sisters, Virginia and Sylvia. He was raised in a strict Catholic household. The family moved to Torrance, California, in 1919, where Louis attended Torrance High School. Zamperini and his family spoke no English when they moved to California, making him a target for bullies. His father taught him how to box in self-defense. Soon he claimed to be "beating the tar out of every one of them." He added, "but I was so good at it that I started relishing the idea of getting even. I was sort of addicted to it."[5]
High school[edit]

To stop him from getting into trouble, his older brother Pete got Zamperini involved in the school track team where Pete was already a star. Pete took Louis on training runs. At the end of his freshman year, he finished 5th in the All City C-division 660-yard (600 m) dash.
It was the recognition, nobody in school, except for a few of my buddies, knew my name before I started running. Then, as I started winning races, other kids called me by name. Pete told me I had to quit drinking and smoking if I wanted to do well, and that I had to run, run, run. I decided that summer to go all out. Overnight I became fanatical. I wouldn't even have a milkshake.[6]

After a summer of running in 1932, starting with his first cross-country race, and throughout the last three years of high school, Zamperini was undefeated.[6] He started beating his brother's records. In 1934, Zamperini set a world interscholastic record for the mile, clocking in at 4:21.2 minutes (or 4:21.3 minutes)[7] at the preliminary meet to the California state championships.[8][Note 1] The following week, he won the CIF California State Meet championships with 4:27.8 minutes.[9] That record helped him win a scholarship to the University of Southern California. During his college life in the University of Southern California, he was part of the Delta Eta Chapter of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
In 1936, Zamperini decided to try out for the Olympics. In those days, athletes had to pay their way to the Olympic Trials, but since his father worked for the railroad, Louis could get a train ticket free of charge. A group of Torrance merchants raised enough money for the local hero to live on once he got there. The 1,500 metres was stacked that year with eventual silver medalist Glenn Cunningham, Archie San Romani and Gene Venzke all challenging to get on the team.
Zamperini could not get into what he did best, the 1500 meters, but he ran the 5,000 metres. On one of the hottest days of the year during the 1936 North American heat wave in Randalls Island, New York, the race saw co-favorite Norm Bright and several others collapse during the race. It was reported that 40 people died from the heat in Manhattan alone that week.[10] With a sprint finish at the end, Zamperini finished in a dead-heat tie against American record-holder Don Lash[6] and qualified for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. At 19 years, 178 days, Zamperini is still the youngest American qualifier ever in the 5,000 meters.[11]

Видео Louis Zamperini The Torrance Tornado канала Tim O'Keefe