May 27. Louis Zamperini. Family and friends had little hope for young Louis. He was a thief and a bully—until he joined his high school’s track team. Soon, he became one of southern California’s best high school athletes.
Louis competed at the 1936 Olympic games and was a leading candidate to break the four-minute-mile barrier. He was all set to compete at the 1940 Olympics, but World War II preempted the Olympics that year.
The Army Air Corp beckoned, and Louis served as a bombardier and ran search-and-rescue missions. On this date in 1943, while on a search-and-rescue mission, his plane lost power and crashed into the Pacific. Eight of the eleven crew members died instantly. Louis and two other survivors of the crash drifted for several weeks before heat, dehydration, and near-starvation took the life of one of the survivors.
Two weeks later, the Japanese Navy captured Louis and his single surviving fellow castaway. They had drifted almost 2,000 miles. Louis was held as a prisoner of war for the next 2 years, and he endured brutal conditions until he was liberated in 1945, following the Japanese surrender.
Broken in body and spirit, plagued by post-traumatic stress, Louis became dependent on alcohol. He credits a Billy Graham sermon in 1949 with turning his life around. Louis went on nationwide tours to discuss his conversion, and he started a wilderness camp for troubled youth. In 1950, Louis returned to Japan to meet and forgive many of his former captors, who were now being held as war criminals.
Hate leads to death. If you want to live—forgive.
WWII hero Louis Zamperini drifted through life, even after he was rescued from 47 days in a lifeboat—lost at sea. As a B-24 bombardier, he’d flown many missions and completed them under fire.
On May 27, 1943, Zamperini and his crew were flying a search-and-rescue mission over the Pacific Ocean. With 11 men on board, 2 engines lost power, and the plane took a nose dive into the sea. Only three survived the plunge—Zamperini, pilot Russell Phillips, and tail gunner Francis McNamara.
McNamara survived 33 days, but somehow Zamperini and Phillips managed to hang on longer. They drank rain water collected in their raft and devoured whatever birds or fish they could capture. Sharks encircled the raft in search of blood. The men’s weight plummeted under 100 pounds.
One day a low-flying gunner riddled the ocean with bullets barely missing Zamperini and Phillips. In desperation Zamperini promised God that if his life was spared, he would seek Him. He was bargaining with God, but didn’t yet know what he was bargaining for.
The men drifted 2,000 miles and were somewhere between Hawaii and the Philippines. Finally, a patrol boat approached—but it was Japanese. They hoisted Zamperini and Phillips into the boat and shipped them to a prison on the mainland.
Prison was brutal. Zamperini was singled out for extra abuse because he’d been a US distance runner and popular Olympic hopeful. One man named Mutsuhiro Watanabe used clubs, belts, his own fists to beat Zamperini mercilessly. He developed murderous thoughts toward Mutsuhiro that filled his mind with hate.
After the war, Zamperini came home to peace and a hero’s welcome, but war still raged in his heart. He drank and lived recklessly. And there were nightmares—horrible nightmares that wouldn’t go away. One night he woke and found himself strangling his beautiful wife Cynthia. He’d thought he was strangling Mutsuhiro. Something had to change. And it did. It wasn’t long before Cynthia told him she wanted a divorce.
Concerned neighbors invited the couple to a Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles. Cynthia attended and received Christ into her heart. Afterwards, she told Louie she no longer wanted a divorce, and she convinced Louie to attend with her.
The first night he stormed out. Incredibly, he agreed to return the next night and nearly left—but then something stopped him. He thought about how God had saved his life. He remembered his promise on the life raft, and a review of his godless years played itself out. He knew he needed Christ, so he turned right around and went to the prayer room.
He later explained, “I dropped to my knees and for the first time in my life truly humbled myself before the Lord. I asked him to forgive me for not having kept the promises I’d made during the war and for my sinful life. I made no excuses. I did not rationalize; I did not blame. He [God] had said, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” so I took him at his word, begged for his pardon, and asked Jesus to come into my life,” (Romans 10:13, NIV).
Louie’s marriage was restored, and the murderous thoughts he’d had were lifted. He wrote Mutsuhiro a letter telling him he forgave him. He even traveled to Japan to face his prison guards (now imprisoned themselves as war-criminals) and forgave them. Zamperini was a new man in Christ, finally able to forgive his captors and experience true joy in the Lord.
Who is God asking you to forgive? Now what step will you take? Hate leads to death. If you want to live—forgive.
Andrews, Evan. “Eight Things You May Not Know about Louis Zamperini.” History Stories. History.com. A&E Television Networks. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-louis-zamperini
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/broken-louie-zamperini/ Ivan Mesa, article, Broken: The Power of Conversion in Louie Zamperini’s Life, October 24, 2014.
https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-louis-zamperini – Evan Andrews, 8 Things You May Not Know About Louis Zamperini, December 17, 2014.
Story read by Blake Mattocks
Story written by Toni M Babcock, https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1