Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was originally published in 2010 by Random House. Unbroken has also been made into a movie of the same name directed by Angelina Jolie. This book is about a man whose footprint in history is small but is a piece of a wider history that marks our country. Beginning with his story as a child and ending with a story of a generation who were strong and courageous beyond measure.

Laura Hillenbrand is the author of the book Seabiscuit: An American Legend, which won Ms. Hillenbrand the Book Sense Book of the Year Award and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. The author went to Kenyon College but dropped out due to a debilitating illness that was later diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome. She has a joy for writing and has written for publications since the late 1980s. Some include Turf Flash, Equus, New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. She is also the co-founder of Operation International Children, a charity that provides school supplies for children that are distributed through American soldiers.

Unbroken is not an autobiography but is written like one. All of the information in this book can be classified as a primary source. The author interviewed Louie Zamperini over seventy times through phone conversations and talked to Pete Zamperini the subject’s brother and his sister, Sylvia. She used photographs and personal journals and conducted countless interviews with military WWII experts, POW camp historians, veterans and POWs of WWII, former Olympians, Japanese veterans, and family members.

As this book unfolds thoughts will come to mind on why it was written. The pages start with a rambunctious little boy who is in trouble from day one. This little boy turns into a juvenile no one can control. Early on the fire that drove Mr. Zamperini is very apparent. You learn of his drive and energy, and his need for acceptance and attention from anywhere no matter how he could get it. This book would be a good example for someone wanting encouragement with a child who is unruly, active, and needing an outlet. A parent who loves history and wonders if their child will be someone besides trouble one day, and that all the work they do now will have a good ending.

Louis Zamperini was born to Italian immigrant parents on January 26, 1917, in Olean, New York. The family later moved to Torrance, California where Louie smoked, drank, stole, and gambled with his life, and this was all before high school. That energy was redirected by his brother, Pete, who was a track runner in high school. He turned this angry boy into a champion runner no one seemed to be able to keep up with. At age 19 he was on his way to Germany for the 1936 Olympic Games running in an event he had only run 3 times before. Ms. Hillenbrand draws a picture of him with her words, and with historical facts brought to you by the interviews she conducted. Mr. Zamperini also still had the memorabilia he collected while there, and historical documents showing the achievements made there.

The pictures in the book show the life Mr. Zamperini had while running they depict a drive, he had that kept him winning. But this was a time in history where turmoil in Europe soon erupted to include the United States. The author tells the story vividly of Mr. Zamperini training daily to complete a goal of running in the 1940 Olympics that were to be held in Tokyo, Japan.But history tells a story of war that cancelled those games and finds many young men redefining themselves as soldiers.

Mr. Zamperini volunteered for the Army Air Corps and quickly graduated from flight training. A photo taken on the family porch shows a deeply devoted family that had an uncertain future. In today’s world we have so much violence and uncertainty. Reading about our past in times of war and strife helps our society find comfort knowing those behind us came<br>through stronger and we will too. Ms. Hillenbrand depicts this strength and comfort clearly with her words showing our past in a light that is vivid and refreshing.

Ms. Hillenbrand takes the reader along as Mr. Zamperini trains and bonds with his B-24 bomber crew. His job as bombardier would place him in the nose of the B-24. He would line the plane up for dropping the bombs on designated targets. As the crew trained, they learned one another's jobs, and learned to work as a team. The B-24 was nicknamed the flying coffin and was new in the military’s arsenal of bombers coming into use in 1940. The author takes you on a ride to see what the men who flew them had to learn, the courage they had, and the determination they had to win the war.

Mr. Zamperini and his crewmates were sent to Hawaii in their new plane they called Super-Man. Daily they flew sea searches and when not flying they explored the island of Oahu. They saw planes leave for missions, and not return. Loosing friends was almost daily as the war continued. The crew learned to live each day and as missions came their way they learned to work seamlessly as one.

At one point the crew of Super-man crashed into the ocean while they were on a search for another crew. All abroad die in the crash except Mr. Zamperini, Phil the pilot, and Mac a gunner. The author tells their 47 days at sea as if she was there. The reader struggles as they did, smells the salt air, feels the sharks butting at the raft, and feel the grief as one of them passes away and is buried at sea. And then the joy of rescue that was short-lived as they were captured by the Japanese.

As the author tells the story of Mr. Zamperini, she is also telling the story of thousands of men who gave up so much. The story of men who lived for years in conditions that no living creature should live. POWs in the pacific theater of WWII rarely have told their stories and their stories are rarely explored in today’s entertainment. Is this because of the horrors of it or because it is not glamourous to know what humans can do to each other? Ms. Hillenbrand depicts the horrors one man went through, but also the stories of the men who shared his fate.

This book is a book that tells a story, one that should be remembered of a man who walked a line of death for so long but came out of it alive and strong. Mr. Zamperini as with many of his generation did not let the torture of inhuman acts defeat them but empower them. Sadly, many also let their torture in the camps come home with them only to live with them for the remainder of their lives. Mr. Zamperini used his life to the fullest and became an example to young men who like him struggled when young but needed a guiding hand.

Unbroken is a well written book that opens the readers eyes to the horrors of war. Helps the reader see that war is not glamourous, but grotesque and life altering. Veterans of WWII would find this book disturbing bringing the war into their living rooms as they read it. But it opens a window for those struggling to see that a struggle can be used as a tool to build you up. Reading this would be good for all. Knowing what generations before went through to support our freedom as a nation is important. Our nation needs strength not brute force, but strength in character and values. Our people need to throw off the shackles of immorality and remember our past and what values built our nation and made it strong.

This was originally written for a class I took when at 40 I went to college I wanted to post some of those papers, so they aren't collecting digital dust on my external hard drive. Plus, it's good to see how your voice changes over time.