After seeing the movie Unbroken I was excited to find out what the rest of the story was like. Not only the parts audiences saw in the movie that were cut short due to time, but I also wanted to know how Louie Zamperini's conversion to Christ fit into the story.
I first noticed it when he crashed into the ocean. He was tangled in some wires and was underwater long enough to go unconscious. When he came to he was still underwater but he had somehow been freed of the wires. Someone wanted him to survive. It seems God wasn't through with him yet.
During the 47 days they were stranded on the raft they kept their minds working by talking about their lives, the past, present, and future. They had very little food and were surviving on small amounts of water. After the crash three men had survived. Of the three, only two made it the entire 47 days.
The Green Hornet crashed on May 27, 1943. 47 days later Louie Zamperini and Allen Phillips (Phil) had floated about 2000 miles and were near the Marshall Islands. What happened over the next three years would make those 47 days look like paradise.
I'm not going to go into everything that happened as I don't want to tell the whole story but what I will say is that it really amazes me what the human body can sustain. Of course, I think in Louie's case it had a lot to do with the fact that he had taken such good care of himself and was in very good shape. God had a plan for him the whole time and was watching over him too.
To me the thing that was most intriguing was the benefit of the research done by the author, Laura Hillenbrand. Hearing the stories told by those who Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation"(1) has always been something I've found intriguing. History through someone's eyes whose actually been there is always fascinating to listen to. That said, sometimes it's heartbreaking and can shed a whole new light on something you've only heard or read about from people who were never really there. Laura Hillenbrand was able to get interviews with the pilots who dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. We got "front row seats" as it were to the event. I know it's been written about hundreds (if not thousands) of times before but this was the first time I'd ever read it. One of the pilots "scribbled in his diary "MY GOD!" when he saw the entire sky swirling pink and blue"(2)
I've read books about World War II and the time surrounding it. What I've found is that in the European Theatre as well as the Pacific the world is a lot different inside their borders. In fact, if you were going to be a POW you wanted to be a Nazi POW rather then a Japanese. The Japanese were brutal. "Japan held some 132,000 POWs from America, Britain, Holland, and Australia. More then 37% of Americans captured by Japan died compared to only 1% of Americans held by the Nazis and Italians. After the war had ended and the POWs were being taken by train through Japan one said the following after going through Hiroshima following the dropping of the atomic bomb.(3) "It was beautiful. I realized that this is what had ended the war. It meant we didn't have to go hungry any longer, or go without medical treatment. I was so insensitive to anyone else's human needs and suffering. I know it's not right to say it was beautiful, because it really wasn't. But I believe the end probably justified the means."(4) In today's culture if someone were to say that without all the apologies surrounding it there would be a media frenzy. The talking heads would go crazy and he would be butchered (again) in the media. But he's right. I can't speak as to what Japanese society is like today but I do know that in the time of World War II honor was big. If you did not have honor you were nothing. You were better off dead. So when push came to shove the only choice the Allies had was to drop the Atomic bomb. Given the guy's three years of continuous torture I'd expect a response like that anyway. In the end though it was a very sad day. Victorious yes, but the cost was incredible.
After reading Unbroken and seeing the tremendous struggles the soldiers went through it amazes me that any could just stand and take it. Every single day. It impresses me that we have soldiers out there defending our nation who are willing to do that. I come back full circle to the question I asked at the beginning. How did Louie's conversion change the story? One experience in particular stood out to me. In 1943 Louie was captive on the island of Kwajalein(5).The island had been dubbed Execution Island and he was there he had a guard by the name of Kawamura (Louie was uncertain of his name). it turned out he was a Christian and while Louie was on that island Kawamura protected him and Phil. 42 days after their arrival they were taken from their cells and Louie looked one last time for Kawamura. He didn't see him. I have to wonder if he wasn't a soldier sent by God to protect Louie and Phil. Once they were transferred his job was done. God works in mysterious ways. Knowing that God was working through Louie's life and the events therein and seeing how it came together through such an amazing journey was something I'll not soon forget. It made the personal story of a war hero all that more special because God used him in so many way to help so many people. He must've been a really special man.
God has a plan for everything and maybe that's why God doesn't allow for everyone to make it back. It's a cold hard fact. I can't explain it and won't even try. I do know one thing. Louie Zamperini has finished the race. He is now with his Creator. He leaves behind an awesome legacy that, while it may be much more colorful then mine I know that we worship the same God so in the end it doesn't matter who does what as long as it's done for his kingdom. I just want to hear those words, "Well done." Thank you Louie! Take a lap for me!
(1) "The Greatest Generation", Tom Brokaw, 2010
(2)"Unbroken", Laura Hillenbrand, 2010, p.300
(3)"Unbroken" Laura Hillenbrand, 2010 p. 315
(4)"Unbroken" Laura Hillenbrand, 2010, 320
(5) Kwajalein Atoll During World War II
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