Louis Zamperini set the national record for the fastest mile by a high schooler. In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he competed in the 5000-meter race. He finished in 8th place, but his performance in the final lap was particularly remarkable. Despite not medaling, Zamperini sprinted the last lap in an astonishing 56 seconds.
The War Department assigned Louis Zamperini an “official death date” and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a condolence letter, but Sylvia Zamperini refused to believe her son was gone.
“None of us believed it. None of us. Not underneath, even,” she later recalled after “Louie” — the inexhaustible Olympian from the 1936 Berlin Olympics — was found alive.
After his bomber crashed in the Pacific in 1943, he and the pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Russell Phillips, survived 47 harrowing days adrift at sea, battling sharks, starvation and enemy fire.
Captured by the Japanese, they endured brutal treatment in POW camps for more than two years.
Despite the severe abuse, Zamperini’s spirit and grit carried him to his greatest finish line: the end of the war. His story of resilience and survival became widely known through Laura Hillenbrand’s biography Unbroken.
Zamperini was freed in August 1945, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan would officially surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.
President Harry Truman called Zamperini a “credit to our country,” General Douglas MacArthur labeled him a “brave and heroic man,” fellow Olympian Jesse Owens praised his iron will and the world looked on in awe.
After the war, Zamperini became a motivational speaker, sharing his powerful story of perseverance and faith with audiences around the world.
He also dedicated himself to philanthropy, actively supporting charity work and programs for troubled youth, using his experiences to inspire and uplift others.
In 1946, he married Cynthia Applewhite, with whom he had two children, and together they built a life centered on service and family.
Zamperini passed away in 2014 in Los Angeles at the age of 97.
One of his most enduring quotes was fewer than 10 words: “If you can take it, you can make it.”
Make a Pledge and join Italian Sons and Daughters of America today.
